A Hero's Journey
by Carly the Llama
Summary: Third installment in the Fireheart series, technically called the Worldbender series. Full summary inside because it is too long. Rated T for violence, swearing, and dirty jokes. Partnership with ChristiRose13.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: The gang returns in the third installment of the Worldbender series!**

**Desperate to save her lost beloved, Zoe drags Eden and Adrien on an adventure across thirteen worlds to gather the missing pieces of Eli's soul with the help of baby super-genius Felix and snarky shapeshifter Dausi. **

**Meanwhile, a crippled Gabriel, an awakened Emilie, the returned Kelly and Harrison, work together to survive the others, at least until Zoe and her team return to revive Eli. But will they succeed? Probably not.** **Because Kelly has mind powers and pranks to play**

**Not to mention the pesky Blackwell witches. While most don't give any fucks, about ten on them are out for blood.**

**And Zoe has to cope with her past in the face of her father's budding feelings for Emilie, remembering the pain having a mother brought her.**

**And everyone else just wants to know what the fuck is going on.**

**Chapter 1: Of Towers of Doom and Zombie Flesh**

Zoe jumped into the murky water, "Off to a good start." Adrien looked down at the water,

"Oh…you fell…I would rather not fall…um…" Eden created a platform that Adrien gladly hopped on to, until she destroyed it and he fell into the water with a splash.

"There's a chest over here." Zoe said, running through the swamp, "I can see it with my special eyes." She opened the chest and Adrien grinned,

"Pants!" They were pants made of pure gold, as well as a few swords and a bow with some arrows that Zoe took. He put on the pants.

"Gold? That stuff is weak as shit!" Eden pointed out, Adrien shrugged,

"Admit it. You have always wanted to wear gold pants." Nobody could argue with that.

Zoe laughed a little, "Nothing says fancy like gold pants."

Eden looked around the creepy swamp, "I legitimately worry about our future."

"Me too." Adrien agreed, taking pictures, "Look at all the trees… this looks kinda scary…? Night is coming… we were very ill prepared for this."

"Doesn't matter." Zoe replied, "Theres a huge cloud over everything." She cut a zombie in half like it was nothing, "The zombie dropped some iron! Sweet." She put it in her bag she had enchanted to be like Mary Poppins' bag.

At that moment, Adrien and Eden had been bombarded by skeletons. Neither was as experienced with a sword, so they were just hacking away and hoping not to be shot with arrows.

Adrien was trying to avoid transforming, because Plagg was still suffering from PTSD and needed some more time to recover from what Mara did before jumping back into action. Apparently this wasn't the first time he had been abused, so almost losing Adrien and ending up with another evil wielder had hurt him very deeply and even cheese didn't pull him out of this state.

"Join me on the tree." They heard Zoe say, and saw her on top of one of the trees, and Eden helped Adrien up because he was holding all of the resources like food and drink while Zoe was picking up new things.

They all sat on a branch when Eden shrieked at the man-sized spider staring at them, that Zoe shot in the eye with an arrow.

Adrien pointed forward, "There are torches that way, do you want to go in that direction?"

"Sounds like a plan." Zoe agreed, hopping down from the tree at a height that should have shattered her ankles, but didn't. "Beware of skeletons, as always."

"Of course." Adrien promised, then a skeleton dropped out of the tree right in front of him. He shrieked and sliced the thing in half, while Zoe just laughed,

"What did I just tell you?"

"I'm sorry! A skeleton just came, death from above!"

They all hopped on to a small land mass to eat. Adrien pulled out some dried jerky,

"Want some?" Zoe shrugged,

"It's that or this zombie flesh I have." She held up a lump of rotted flesh, before handing it to him, "Here. Have some zombie flesh."

"NO!" He crinkled his nose in disgust, but he accidentally pushed the backpack into the water below, and then a zombie stole it. He looked at the zombie flesh, before taking it, "How much of this do you have?"

"I've already filled up a gallon bag. That way, since we have _enough_ zombie flesh, we can stay alive, just a little bit longer. Isn't that great?" Eden felt bile rise in her throat at the sickening meat, before taking a reluctant bite. It tasted disgusting, like expired pork.

"Isn't this cannibalism?"

Zoe just shrugged at that, and it did not make them feel better about this at all.

OoOoO

Zoe was up at the top of a tree, after Eden used her powers to create a bridge for them to walk from land mass to land mass.

"Guys! I saw something! I just need to lumberjack my way down this tree. That's what lumberjacks do, right? Climb to the top of trees and cut them down?" Adrien shrugged and she pointed to a tall structure about a mile away, "Look at that! It looks interesting."

"Wow…do you think that's where the piece is?"

"Maybe. Only one way to find out."

Eden looked down, "Oh…look at all the monsters though…" Zoe shrugged,

"I…don't have a plan for that." Adrien just groaned,

"Please plan things before you tell us we need to go die!" Adrien sat on the land mass they were on and put a finger under his chin. "What would Ladybug do?" He brightened, "Okay. So we have three options. Either we bridge to that land mass over there," he pointed to a monster infested island, "We bridge to the tower, but that's a waste of resources. Or we just walk through the water."

"Haha." Eden drawled sarcastically, "That last one is not happening."

"I like the first plan." Zoe responded, "We can't overuse our powers, because that can cause a burnout and exhaust us." That had been a fun discovery. After Heartless banished Mara to the hell spot, she fell unconscious for three days after overusing her power, which drained her immensely. And they were not in a spot where that was a safe option.

They bridged to the island mass, but the force woke Plagg up.

"Hm…? What's going on?"

"Plagg." Adrien sighed, swinging his sword around and being careful not to drop the kwami resting in his hoodie, "Go back to sleep, you need to rest."

"Do you need to transform? All you have to do is say the magic worlds."

Eden and Zoe hadn't brought their Miraculouses, so as to not drain the food supply, and they had their own form to use. Adrien wasn't so lucky.

Adrien sighed, "Plagg, claws out!" Chat Noir was in his place. That was interesting too. At Season 4, it had changed from 'Cat' to 'Chat' officially like in the french dub, because that was the name more commonly used. Personally, Zoe liked that name better, but had been forced into the English dub, but now that issue was resolved.

"Black Storm!" Plagg had taught him of his power ups as well. It was like Cataclysm that functioned like Dragon Flame, from a distance. He also had Black Hole, where he could trap enemies. And the icing on the cake was neither of those two drained Plagg like normal Cataclysm did.

All the monsters crumbled and Adrien changed back so as not to put strain on his kwami, who had already been through enough. Plagg just fell back asleep. According to Tikki, that was just how he coped, by sleeping his troubles away.

"Alright where can we go from here?" Zoe asked, and Eden was assembling a bridge of stone,

"Let's go this way." She hummed to herself, _"Building a bridge in the sky…"_

"So where are we going exactly?" Adrien asked, giving the sleeping Plagg a piece of gouda to cuddle with.

"Um…big tower of doom?"

They made it to the tower after a few minutes of walking.

"Don't get lost in the woods." Eden groaned, grabbing Adrien as he took another wrong turn, "The stupid, swampy woods."

They climbed up the tower and found themselves in a large chamber with a floating platform above.

"I bet that's it!" Adrien cheered, "Then we can finally get out of these fucking woods!" Zoe winnowed up, opened the chest excitedly and…

"WHAT THE FUCK!?" Eden shrieked as hundreds of monsters appeared, "You just unleashed the beast when you opened that!"

"Oh this is bad! This is bad!" Zoe jumped off the ledge and into the water flooding the bottom of the tower. The others followed and they ran out at top speed, their pants weighed down by all the water they absorbed.

"RUN AWAY!"

OoOoO

They set up shelter by barricading themselves into a land mass to create a fort that Eden was keeping lite with a ball of light energy. Fortunately, Zoe had been the one with their sleeping bags.

"Guess what guys."

"What?" Zoe groaned and tore at her short hair, which was in a small braided ponytail.

"The piece wasn't in there. Just some swords."

"SERIOUSLY?!" Adrien threw his hands in the air, "Well so far this trip has throughly sucked! I'm going to sleep now, and if one of you wants to put me out of my misery, that is fine. Good night."

Eden noticed Zoe's mood severely darken and put a hand on her shoulder,

"Hey…he's here somewhere. We just need to keep looking. That's all." Zoe turned to her,

"You really think so?"

"I know so." She giggled, "Now get some sleep. You look like you got into a fight with a raccoon, the raccoon won, and it possessed you. I'll cook this zombie flesh outside the foggy fort. We'll start again in the morning."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

OoOoO

Felix took after both of his adopted parents quite a lot, he had blue eyes, brown hair, and was stubborn as hell. So he refused to be left behind in this adventure to save his Dad.

Grandpas Harrison and Kelly were busy using Kelly's mind powers to make Natalie and Gabriel miserable by planting suggestive thoughts in their heads. So they didn't notice when Felix went to Dausi's room and crossed his arms.

"Dausi, can you take me to Mama? I want to join the adventure!"

Dausi rubbed her eyes, it seemed she had just woken up. "Nope. Too dangerous." But Felix Sommers wouldn't take no for an answer.

"I'll tell Mama about your merman fetish." Dausi's eyes widened and she got dressed,

"Fine! Fine, you little blackmailing child! I have another model of the Gummi ship!"

"Thank you Dausi!" Felix giggled, "You're the best." Dausi gave him the finger,

"If your parents or grandfathers kill me, I'm going to haunt your kitchen cabinets until the day you die!" He cocked his head,

"But you do that already while looking for Girl Scout cookies." Dausi pulled out a huge case of Thin Mints to prove his point and shamelessly ate them all while brushing her hair. She took his hand,

"Come on. Let's go. Gabe is in the CCR and Kelly went down there for some reason, Harrison is bedside with Eli, and Natalie and Gorilla are at the grocery store, so this is the perfect window. Let's go."

They hopped into the Gummi ship and Felix used a pillow as a booster seat so he could actually see.

"Seatbelt buckled?" Felix bucked his seatbelt and Dausi narrowed her eyes, "Do I need to do that shit in Little Einsteins? Because I will throw you into the Lanes Between." Felix just cocked his head in confusion and Dausi sighed in relief.

"Okay then. Death by the hands of Zoe, here I come."

**A/N: Chapter 1 is out. Shorter, but they will get much longer, this is just for starters. Next chapter focuses on Kelly and crew.**

**And remember to review for the author kwami!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I am so happy for the positive responses so far! **

**Chapter 2: A series of unexpected events (unless you read the summary)**

Gabriel sat in front of Emilie's coffin, as he had been for days now. He didn't really have anything better to do.

He often found himself lost in thought. Because for some reason, whenever Kelly was in the room or even in a twenty meter radius, Natalie—in rather inappropriate situations—came to mind, so this was the only place he could be alone and think in peace.

Nooroo emerged, "Gabriel, you okay?" No more 'Master' because the Butterfly no longer belonged to one specific person, just whoever was around, and it was Gabriel in this moment.

"I think I'm going mad."

"You haven't already?" Gabriel turned and saw Kelly walking down, smiling, but the smile was strained and it was clear the man hadn't been sleeping—at least not well. It made his true age show a little more, but he still looked much younger than he actually was and Gabriel was jealous as he looked older than he really was—thank you grief and stress!

He rolled his eyes, because while it was obvious which parent Zoe took after, he was a fun person.

"What are you doing down here, Kelly? This is my space to avoid you drunk assholes." It was true. Harrison was extremely devastated at the loss of his son and had been drinking heavily to cope. According to Harrison, he had ended up addicted to drugs when he lost Amelia, so this was nothing compared to that.

Kelly crossed his arms, gesturing to Emilie, "I have an idea how to help Emilie…I mean, if you don't want to hear it, I'll just go." He started walking away tauntingly, and Gabriel frowned deeply, remember what had happened the last times he had gotten an idea of saving his beloved. Kelly knew this, and added, "It won't hurt anyone at all…"

That got his attention, "What would this amazing plan be?" Kelly turned,

"After I brutally murdered Fu, the former guardian, Marinette inherited his powers and all of his shit. Guardians can undo damage a Miraculous causes. Fortunately, so can I."

"You…you can…?" After all this time… Kelly nodded,

"I should at least." He sat down beside the fashion designer, "I would assume you have figured out I have mind powers." Gabriel nodded sheepishly, not liking that aspect of him, "I never told you how I got them, became a warlock…"

"I assumed you were born with them."

"No. I got them when I was fifteen." Kelly said, and it was clear from his eyes that he was in the past, "Mara killed my kwami while I was transformed, and it made me extremely ill. That was what made Regina, their mother, realize who we were, and tried to kill us. I slipped into a coma exactly like Emilie's now. Amelia found the Washington D.C guardian and begged the young man to wake me up. I was in that state between life and death, and endless sleep, for three months. When I woke up, I couldn't function, and every noise gave me a horrible migraine. Amelia and Harry did everything they could for me, but that is why I was so determined to become stronger and teach Zoe to be the same, because I had relied on my Miraculous."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because my point is that this will work, but it might take time."

Gabriel nodded, "Do it." He opened Emilie's coffin and Kelly put a hand on Emilie's forehead gently, and she started glowing.

She opened her eyes and sat up.

"Gabriel? What happened?" She was already in better shape than Kelly had been. She rubbed her head as Gabriel—ignoring the awful pain—got up from his wheelchair and hugged her, crying like a baby. "Why are you in a wheelchair?"

"I jumped off the Eiffel Tower to save Adrien."

"WHAT?!"

One hour later

Emilie was filing a divorce.

She was heartbroken at what a horrible person her husband had become…and was very pleased by the attractive single father who would do anything for his children.

In short, Kelly had affectedly stolen Gabriel's wife within fifteen minutes.

Gabriel glared at Kelly from the other room as he was subtly flipping him off while being a shoulder to cry on for Emilie. He should have known a Carpenter wouldn't help him just to be nice. And he kept thinking dirty things about Natalie that he officially knew was Kelly's fault.

Speak of the devil, Natalie came in—Harrison could be heard sobbing his eyes out upstairs.

"Am I seeing that Kelly stole your wife?"

"Yup. Not even fifteen minutes. Now she's filing a divorce and crying on Kelly's shoulder. And he promised she could see Adrien and meet Zoe and Eden. That will just damn me." Natalie hid her smile,

"Sir…maybe it is time to let her go…"

…

Kelly patted Emilie's back as she sobbed. She had changed from her pantsuit into some pink sweats. Her eyes were puffy and red. He planted thoughts of her son, happy and safe, in her mind and that helped soothe her. He showed her Zoe teaching Adrien self-defense.

She looked up at him,

"I…I kept him inside to protect him, a-a-and only when I'm gone is Adrien happy, and he's more in danger at home!" She clung to him. He smiled softly,

"Adrien loves you very dearly. He's going to be thrilled. Wanna talk to him?" Emilie nodded eagerly and Kelly pulled out his phone Zoe had enchanted to have eternal range.

Zoe picked up on FaceTime, "Hm? OH! Hi Daddy!" She moved over to Adrien, who woke up groggily,

"Zo…why do you do this? You already dragged me on this que—Mom?!" Emilie waved,

"Hi pumpkin." She waved and Adrien sat up, eating a piece of strange-looking meat. "I am so so sorry for leaving you alone with your father." Adrien shrugged,

"I lost my soul once and now we're on a quest. Can you check on Eli for me, Kels? Zoe passed out again and she's crying in her sleep."

Kelly smiled, "Sure. Go back to sleep, squirt, you look like hell."

Adrien laughed, "Fuck you. Good to see you, Mom." Emilie smiled as he hung up.

"When did he learn to curse?"

"The same time he got the sex talk." He looked down at her, "So Natalie is head over heels for your husband and I have been putting inappropriate images in Gabe's mind. Is that okay with you?"

"Can I plot ways to make his life hell with you?"

"Naturally." Kelly smirked,

"Wanna go get some waffles?" Emilie frowned,

"Are you asking me out?"

"Nah. I was gonna take Harrison too. He needs to get his mind off of Eli without the assistance of booze." Emilie nodded,

"I'd love that." She looked down at herself, "I should get decent."

"You look lovely. And you just came out of a two year coma, cut yourself come slack. Come on, we're getting waffles, for free with my OP mind powers."

"Seriously though Kels," Harrison laughed, "you are way too over-powered. Someone needs to nerf you."

They went to go get waffles and Kelly told Emilie tales of Zoe as a child.

"Okay, Em, listen to this. When Zoe was two years old, she was trying make a teddy bear for baby Eden, and she got so pissed at her tiny hands that she set the sewing kit on fire, and a squirrel got caught in the crossfire. Maeve was laughing, because those pesky squirrels had been eating her sunflowers. Just imagine a toddler, bright eyes, pig-tails, still sucking her thumb, setting a squirrel on fire as her parents laugh."

Harrison and Emilie roared with laughter over a cup of coffee.

"Okay, my turn." Harrison said, "Kels, you and Mia were out fighting crime when this happened, but this was before you had mastered binding Eli's powers. He was a week old, and I found him teleporting around like that baby from _Incredibles 2_. Just teleporting and shapeshifting around. He ended up trying to eat the cake. He mostly gummed it. What about you, Em? What did Adrien do?"

Emilie sat up, "Okay. So Gabriel hasn't always been a neglectful bastard, but he has always been forgetful, like Adrien's birthday, per say. So Adrien when he was five, decided to retaliate by stealing all of the sugar he could time from my stash when I'm on my period, and ate it all. I was out at the spa, and Adrien just turned into a ninja baby, and I get a call from Gabriel that Adrien is practically running up the walls from all the sugar he ingested."

Everyone laughed harder until their stomachs hurt.

Kelly pointed to their battle plan, "Okay, so the plan is to take Gabriel and Natalie to the bar and use my mind power to push things a little more?"

The others nodded, an evil twinkle in their eyes.

While Zoe, Adrien and Eden were on a life-or-death adventure, the three musketeers of doom and destruction were gonna have some fun.

**A/N: Another short one. I promise they will get longer. This was mostly to provide some backstory and wake up Emilie. The ship name for Kelly and Emilie is Kemilie.**

**Next chapter is back to Adrien, Zoe and Eden. And remember to review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: New chapter already? I'm genuinely shocked, but I've been working with ChristiRose13 on this for a while, so I already had this planned.**

**Chapter 3: The curse**

Kelly was drinking coffee the next day, watching through the window at Emilie out gardening with fascination. He wasn't aware his mind powers could do that…

Harrison came in, "Hey Kels. Eli's no different, so you can tell Zoe that he's technically fine. What's wrong?"

"I think my mind powers did something to Emilie." He said, "It's like she forgot she broke up with Gabriel yesterday, almost like she's used to it. When I read her mind, she was under the impression she had broken up with the bastard two years ago."

"Well you do have the powers of your dead kwami to whom you basically absorbed." Harrison said nonchalantly, pointing to the lion-themed scorch marks around the telepath's right wrist where his Miraculous used to be, "So it stands to reason that maybe you mentally gave her back those two years she was in a coma."

"I guess you're right." Kelly sighed, putting down his coffee and running his hand along the scorch marks, still looking for the Lion themed cuff that used to be there. It had been thirty years from his perspective—eighteen years in the Quantic Universe—but he still hadn't fully gotten over it. "I just hated seeing Emilie so sad like I was when I learned what Maeve had been doing to Zoe."

He shuddered. That day had broken his heart into so many pieces he had been ready to curl into a ball and die. He didn't wish that upon anyone. Learning the love of your life was actually an abusive monster to your precious child hurt more than anyone could imagine.

Emilie continued to garden, looking up at him and waving from the window. She really was a sweet woman and Kelly could see how Gabriel had wanted her back, but he had meant to give her a temporary reprieve, not erase those feelings for her ex-husband altogether.

The explanation they gave the city was that Mara had kidnapped her. Mara was going to be blamed for a lot of things they couldn't be honest about. But because she had been announced dead, Gabriel still technically counted as a widower and the marriage was no longer binding.

He took another long chug of coffee.

"Wow." Harrison mused, "You are really addicted to coffee."

"Try working three full time jobs and caring for a magical child. But I'm not addicted, I could stop any time I want to. I just choose not to. Ever."

Harrison sat down next to him and the two best friends laughed together. It may have been fifteen years, but that's the thing about true friends: you always pick up where you left off.

OoOoO

This day was not going well.

"Ahh!" Adrien yelped, "What's behind me?! Ahh! I hate this place!" Zoe took out the skeleton trying to shoot Adrien, and they got back to bridge building.

Zoe looked at the tower, "So… are we even touching the tower?"

"I'm not going back in that fucking _hell fortress_!" Adrien and Eden shrieked in perfect synch, "You saw what happened when we opened that!"

Eden turned, "Ahh! Giant spider!" They the spider yelped and dropped dead.

Felix was standing there, holding a bloody golden shovel. Dausi was there too.

"Hey guys!" Felix said happily. Zoe's eyes widened in rage and horror,

"What is he doing here?!"

"He forced me to take him." Dausi responded bitterly.

"Then I force you to take him back!" She roared, and Felix hit a zombie with his golden shovel,

"Stop arguing like babies!" Felix snapped, "We need to save Dada! THE STUPID NAPS HAVE TAKEN HIM LIKE THEY DID THE PRETTY LADY!"

"I wish I was Eli right now." Adrien sighed, "Why can't I be at home sleeping with M'Lady."

"Woah! Adrien!" Eden lectured, "Not in front of the kid!"

"I meant literally sleeping! I'm exhausted!"

Felix hit another zombie, "Me and my golden shovel awaaaaay!" Zoe rolled her eyes in Adrien's direction,

"Sure. And I'm an angel."

"You are Satan." Dausi responded, "Oh. That's the point, isn't it?"

"Yup."

"You know Adrien," Eden teased, "It's not good to lie. Sets a bad example for the kids."

"I. Hate. You all." Adrien seethed, turning a suspicious shade of tomato. He threw his hands up, "Take me monsters!" Zoe snapped her fingers and killed them all,

"No. You cannot fucking die until we save Eli. And preferably not after." Adrien huffed.

Felix jumped onto Zoe's back, because this swamp water went up to his neck as he was 2'11, being a toddler and all.

She lumberjack'd another tree for resources.

"Is Mama gonna be Paul Bunyan?"

"Sure."

He pointed at the tower,

"Why don't we cut into the tower to get more resources, there's a light that way," he pointed to the sunlight in the distance, "So if we cut through the tower, we won't waste our resources."

Dausi shrugged, "It would work if we're careful." Adrien groaned,

"Fine!"

Zoe transformed quickly and used her demon power to carve a hole in the tower that they could walk through with no problem.

Once they reached the sunlight, the monsters stopped coming, and the only issue was the water. Eden froze,

"Woah…"

In front of them was a massive waterfall that was going up, and there was a dozen towers and pathways between them. The only tower that wasn't connected was the tallest, that lead up to a floating castle in the sky.

"Do you think that's where the piece is?" Adrien asked.

"I'll go see." Dausi transformed into her hawk form and flew up there, coming back down after a minute "Yeah. There's an abandoned room at the top of the tallest a bathroom and even a kitchenette."

"I call first dibs on the shower." Adrien said immediately, but was put out when Dausi responded with,

"No running water, just a bucket and a window for a toilet." He pouted.

"Aw, is poor little Adrien missing the model luxuries?" Zoe taunted playfully, and Adrien crossed his arms,

"No. I miss basic civilization. You may be into long hikes and roughing it, but I'm not."

"I suppose that's fair." Zoe mused quietly, starting to walk up the stairs for the first tower and took a better look at the castle.

"Hm… we need to get to the tallest, there isn't a path until way up high, so we should get going." There were a couple banshees floating around, but that wasn't that huge of a problem. She started running forward, followed by the others, "Don't even look. Not even looking."

Are we supposed to not look, I mean—gah!" They all turned and saw Adrien get hit by a fireball and fall down the hundreds of meters to the water below,

"ADRIEN!" Dausi leapt down and sprouted giant bird wings like a harpy, grabbing him and bringing him back up. Her shirt was throughly ruined and her bra was stretched beyond repair, so she was kind of topless at that given moment.

They set up shop in the tower they had started in, as Eden tended to an unconscious Adrien, who had a rather nasty burn mark on his chest and a deep gash on his left palm, likely from trying to prevent the fall.

"Both are gonna scar." Eden replied, "But I can heal him." While she did that, Zoe was giving Dausi some of her own clothes, which was not the shapeshifter's style, but would work. It was a plaid shirt over a T-shirt.

Adrien woke up after about an hour, as according to Eden, he has suffered a severe concussion that could have shattered his cranium—meaning it would have caused internal bleeding and death not long after.

Which didn't mean he wasn't still concussed, just not life threatening.

"Zo…wha 'appened?" He slurred a little.

"Okay. So night is coming." Zoe said simply, "Let's just fly up to the tall tower, sleep, and get going in the morning."

They made it up to the top and set up camp. And Plagg started bawling.

"I'm sorry!" He screamed, tears flooding out of his big green eyes, "I'm sorry Adrien!"

"For what?" The concussion was healing fast thanks to Eden.

"It's my fault this happened!" Zoe crossed her arms, leaning against the ancient wall,

"What did you do?"

Plagg started gasping, trying to form a sentence. Adrien pulled out Zoe's old baby blanket. Kelly had had it back at his apartment and Plagg had taken to sleeping in it. It was an old handmade purple blanket that had been knitted and had satin around the edges. It had been to hell and back judging by all the holes in it, but it was functional for a three inch kwami. Adrien wrapped up his kwami like a little baby and held him, gently giving him some cheese Zoe had stolen from one of the towers that had probably been maturing for a good fifty years.

"Y-Your n-n-new powers…c-c-co-come with a p-price." He eventually choked out, being rocked back and forth, "The c-c-curse of bad luck…"

"Bad luck curse?" Felix frowned.

"Yeah…it killed all of my previous good wielders…drove some to suicide…" Plagg stopped sobbing, but tears feel down his face, "But you needed help, so I thought one use of your other powers wouldn't hurt you…but it did!"

"How do we break the curse?" Dausi asked, Plagg shook his head.

"You can't…you can't take off the ring either…a kiss from Ladybug allows you to take off the ring once, and some gave it up to escape the curse, but you are in danger as long as you continue to be Chat Noir."

Adrien gasped quietly, but Plagg heard and it drove him over the edge again and he just kept weeping, muttering his apologies. It was odd for any of them to see the nonchalant, lazy, grumpy kwami so vulnerable and broken. Adrien was his kitten, and knowing about the curse had to be hard.

Adrien continued to rock him until Plagg fell asleep, still crying. Eden shrugged,

"I'll go through the grimoire when we get back." She said, "We'll find a way to break the curse. On the bright side, we now know why all the shit has been happening to you and only you." Zoe started pacing,

"Okay… so we're going into the castle in the morning." She said, more than a little stressed out, "Adrien is cursed with bad luck, so if we leave him here with Felix—don't argue with me Felix, you are staying here—monsters will come, but bad things could happen in the castle…" she paced in silence until she came to her decision, "Alright. You're coming with us tomorrow, Adrien. That way I can keep an eye on you. Dausi, you stay with Felix and make sure he doesn't get eaten, because he is a monster appetizer."

OoOoO

The next morning, they went into the castle.

And were immediately bombarded by monsters.

"AH! WHAT IS THAT?!"

"Baby zombie!" Eden guessed, "Fuck Minecraft! Oh this is bad, this is bad!" Adrien nodded while Heartless was slicing through them like wet tissue paper, but the sheer numbers were gonna get to her eventually.

"Okay, this is me, trying to leave!" Dausi groaned,

"Adrien, you already have the curse, just transform and use your powers!"

"Sure. If you go back and check on Felix!"

"Fine." Dausi left and Adrien back at Plagg, who was in his hoodie,

"Is that okay?"

"I guess…not like the curse gets worse once you have it, and it only affects you as a civilian."

"Great. Claws Out!" He transformed and flipped backwards and activated Black Storm from above, decimating their enemies.

Once the room was empty, there were two paths, and a bunch of hieroglyphs on the wall.

Eden blocked off one side, "I read hieroglyphs. It was an elective, and my powers help. It reads: Warning, go no further." She pointed to a second set, "If you do choose to go forward, the path to your right leads to certain death, and the path to your left is fraught with danger. If you are reading this, everyone who came has died, otherwise the castle would have been destroyed upon the sought treasure being taken. Good luck, - The settlers."

"The settlers?" Zoe frowned, "Sounds ominous. Meaning we should be in and out ASAP. Chat, stay transformed as long as you can." Chat nodded readily.

"So is it a hallway full of traps?" Eden shook her head,

"There are a couple notes around here that mention rooms full of deadly shit, something about sprites and lava and banshees and meteors."

"Great." Chat Noir drawled, "I'm totally going to change back and get decimated, with or without the bad luck curse."

"Fortunately," Eden continued, "None of the settlers had powers, as none of them knew what the magic here was. We all have powers, so this could come in handy."

Zoe pulled out her sword, "Alrighty then. Wanna go in there, swords blazing, screaming blood and thunder?"

Chat just sighed, "Let's go."

The walked into the first room—each room had a door separating them, probably so the monsters didn't mix and kill each other—and found it looking like a pool, with greenery surrounding it.

"This looks lovely." Eden said happily, snapping pictures. There was a nice looking wooden boat as well. "This looks easy peasy turkey cheesy!" Chat frowned,

"Um…what?"

"Shut up." They all hopped in the boat to get to the other side. It was a really large room, easily a quarter mile. But the designer of this room deserved a raise for how real it looked and felt.

Chat Noir jumped a little.

"I think there's something in the water. This is too easy." Zoe pulled out a gun and Eden leaned over,

"Oh no. Remember when I said sprites…I misinterpreted that. It's nymphs." She screamed as a wet hand grabbed her by the hair and pulled her under.

"EDEN!" Both of them shrieked, and Zoe jumped in after her sister.

The water stung Zoe's eyes and burned her lungs at how unexpected the jump had been, but she could see a group of naiads grabbing hold of her little sister, trying to drown her.

These naiads were not beautiful like mythology said, they looked like something that had died and came back from the dead wrong.

After a minutes, swimming became easier, and she felt she could breathe. She looked behind her and saw a shimmering purple mermaid tail, and the grey in her hair that had come from grief and stress had changed to a shining silver.

The naiads scattered as it was seen that the same thing had happened to Eden. Her tail was white with pink details, and like Zoe's it was a one piece, so it also covered her stomach and breasts, not requiring a seashell bra.

"Come on!" She took Eden's hand and helped her swim up, but not before using her dark powers to choke out every single naiad for even trying to hurt her sister.

They surfaced and helped the boat with Chat Noir in it to the other side, and he helped them both out of the water, where their tails vanished, and changed to their shockingly dry clothes.

"Damn. Looks like you two got a power upgrade." He said jokingly. Zoe stood up,

"No biggie. You okay, hermanita?"

"I'm fine. Those bitches got my arms, but I can heal it. I'm just glad I used the grimoire to make my hearing aids waterproof." There were many marks of long fingernails, closer to claws than anything, on Eden's arms. Zoe pulled out some bandage wrap from her bag and wrapped it gently but firmly, putting her arm in a sling as the marks were all over her right arm, and only some on her left—she was left-handed, so this came in handy.

Chat shook himself to get the tiny amount of water off, causing both girls to laugh.

"This castle is beautiful." He mused, "Maybe you could wipe out the monsters and we could make this castle a nice summer home?"

"We can't, remember." Zoe responded, "Once we get the piece, and get whatever other treasure the settlers were looking for, the castle will crumble."

"Oh. Right. Where to next?"

**A/N: Next chapter is the last chapter of this world, and then the start of the next world. On average, there will be three chapters per world.**

**And there really is an explanation for why Emilie got over Gabriel pretty fast. She's still very pissed, but the pain of the breakup was accidentally softened by Kelly's mind powers. This won't happen often, and people will actually feel things, but that is the explanation for this specific time.**

**So the bad luck curse is from the Miraculous PV. Felix Agreste, the original Chat Noir concept before Adrien, had that curse, and the extra powers. Because the odds of the canon Felix having dealt with that shit being slim and the odds of him appearing in this series is even slimmer, I decided to add it to Adrien. So poor Adrien will be getting the short end of the stick pretty often.**

**And remember to review and feed the author kwami!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Adrien's bad luck powers is going to lead to him screaming at the beginning of every chapter he is in. It's depression for Plagg, frustration for Adrien, and humor for everyone else.**

**Chapter 4: One down**

"WHAT IS THAT?!" Chat was hitting a large monster with his stick.

"Oh, it's Shrek." Zoe replied, very nonchalant about the whole mess.

"That is not Shrek!" Eden screamed, "And neither are the ten others in this room! It's like the troll from _Harry Potter_!"

"Call it what you want." Zoe snapped, "We're still fighting troll-ogre things and must kill them."

And so, Chat used Black Hole and sucked them all into a void of doom. If he was going to be cursed forever, might as well use his true demon power.

There was only one left that came up behind Eden…and got hit by Felix and his golden shovel.

"Felix?!"

"I'm not letting you have all the fun, Mama." Felix said. The troll-ogre monster tried to get up, but he smacked it again,

"I'm a bad bitch, you can't kill me!" Please remember this child was barely a year old. Zoe sighed,

"Fe, sweetheart, please go back. Dada will kill me if you get hurt." She kissed his forehead passionately, "How about this: you go back to the shelter, and I will let you join us on a safer world.

"Okay. If you pinky promise." Zoe held out her pinky.

"I promise." Felix hugged her and ran back to Dausi with his golden shovel.

"That was adorable." Chat teased. Zoe then proceeded to vomit all over the floor, "Woah! Are you okay?!"

"Yeah…I think nerves have been getting to me." She said, "Not long after Eli went under, I just started feeling like shit."

"You sure you're okay?" Eden asked, "Because I can't sense anything technically wrong with you…"

"Yeah. I'm fine. Just stressed and hungry. I think we should go to the next room now."

The next room was lacking a floor, only a few floating land masses scattered about, and tons of banshees everywhere.

Chat changed back, and Adrien just groaned. "I'm fucked. Bridge wench! Build a bridge, at its finest." That had become the running joke, other than zombie flesh, to call Eden 'Bridge Wench' because that was the main way she contributed to their group other than being the

"Fine." Eden replied bitterly, starting to create a bridge over to each land chunk until the chunks were close enough together to jump between them safely.

And then a banshee took interest in Adrien and started following him. He did everything he could not to look at it. The banshee's hair started rising to reveal her face, and Zoe gasped,

"ADRIEN, RUN!" But it was too late. The banshee released an unholy shriek and Adrien's screams joined in as the noise shattered his eardrums. Bad luck curse at its finest. He fainted and fell into the water, which required Tenshi to jump after him and carry him to safety.

"Sis! He's out cold and bleeding from the ears!" Tenshi shouted, having removed her own hearing aids to avoid such an issue. She shook him, "Adrien? Can you hear me?" No response, so she used her healing powers to wake him up.

He sat up, then started frantically pressing his hands to his ears, spring green eyes full of fear. She spoke to him in sign language.

"You're deaf. I can fix it, but it will take a lot of time if I want to avoid lasting damage." Adrien nodded and let her lead the way while Heartless annihilated the banshees with a snap of her fingers and leapt over the gap.

The next room had a couple skeletons, but was relatively empty. Plagg was again weeping.

"You okay Adrien?" Adrien shook his head, massaging his temples. Eden copied her hearing aids and put them in Adrien's ears,

"Here. These will work for now. Sorry about the pink and the glitter."

"These things are itchy." Adrien complained, "How do you live!?"

"You adjust." Zoe just tore at her hair.

"You better not die on us. Mari is already gonna kill me for you being deaf. I do not want to make the phone call." She put her hand to her ear to mimic a phone, "Um, hi. Mari…your boyfriend is dead."

"Soften the blow before it really happens." Zoe just rolled her eyes, "Come on, I'm eating this stale ass bread, fight me." They started walking, and Adrien stepped on a trap. An arrow went flying at him.

"Adrien! Look out!" Zoe pushed him out of the way and the arrow hit her in the thigh. "Ow! Fuck!" Eden ran over,

"Zoe! Are you okay?!"

"Yeah." She bit onto a piece of leather on her leather jacket as she ripped out the arrow. Eden wanted to make sure, and pulled off her sister's shirt, "Woah…looks like that metabolism of yours has finally given in." Zoe looked down and noticed her stomach was no longer insanely flat and there was a tiny bump. She shrugged,

"The stomach swells a little when a person is starving. Don't even ask me why. But that'll go away when I'm eating something that's not zombie flesh."

"At least we made some progress." Eden mused aloud, "You need to recharge. Adrien, help me carry her."

"No!" Zoe got up, "I'm fine. Let's just go. The next room is lava and then something about meteors. Not much more. But it's like a video game, the monsters will respawn, so we need to just power through."

The lava wasn't hard, because Heartless and Tenshi were fireproof, so they flew and carried Adrien across.

"That wasn't hard at all!"

And then they heard a loud crash, and went into the next room to find to circular holes in the wall and two meteors flying away, screaming "FLEEEEEE!" at the top of their lungs.

They sat in silence for a moment, trying to process what had just happened.

"O…kay…" Adrien said eventually, "Did I just hallucinate."

"Nope." Zoe grinned, "But that was the last room! Come on!" She ran into the final room, and saw it was filled to the brim with treasure, and in the center was a pedestal with a simple black box on it. She opened the box and a glowing orb flew out and into Zoe's hands,

"Z-Zoe? Where am I?"

"Eli?!" She beamed, "You can talk?!"

"Of course I can talk." The orb said, "Why wouldn't I?"

"Your soul was shattered into thirteen pieces that are scatted across various worlds." Adrien explained.

"WHAT?! I guess that explains the massive gaps in my memory." He started getting frantic as the orb started to dim, "Guys, I'm not sure I can keep talking I'm scared please help Zoe take care of our baby—" The orb dulled significantly and flew into a jar, where it sat.

"Eli!" Zoe sobbed, and Adrien and Eden both hugged her.

"Come on." He said softly, "Let's go home and deposit the piece." The castle seemed to agree as it started falling apart.

"RUN!"

OoOoO

Back on the Gummi ship after a near-death experience, Adrien wrapped Zoe in a blanket in their bigger Gummi ship stolen by Felix and Dausi that fit up to six people.

"Come on, Zo. Get some rest. Just cuddle the jar and go to sleep."

Zoe sighed, tears falling down her cheeks, "What if this doesn't work?" She asked hesitantly, "What if I never see him again?"

"It will work." Eden promised, "We'll find a way." Adrien chuckled,

"We have pulled off crazier bullshit than this." Adrien's phone rang and he picked up FaceTime, "Hey father, what's up?"

"FELIX IS GONE, I'VE LOOKED EVERYWHERE WHILE KELLY IS OFF SEDUCING YOUR MOTHER!" Adrien turned down the volume, because Zoe had just passed out, and pointed the screen at Felix,

"Hi Fucker!"

"He was a stowaway." Adrien explained. Gabriel hung up in a huff, and Felix pointed to Zoe,

"Why is Mama sleep-crying?" Dausi was driving, but turned to look.

"She's having a nightmare. Brutal one too. Just leave her be until she wakes up."

It was agonizing to wait, but they did. The orb inside the jar began to glow a little, and Eli's voice could be heard,

"Don't be sad, Princess. It's okay. I'm here." The sound of his voice calmed her almost instantly, and the crew sighed in relief. Felix got up on the chair and snuggled with the jar and his mother, falling asleep too.

Eden snapped a picture, "Okay. That's adorable."

OoOoO

They landed back at the mansion. Emilie took one look at Adrien, and shrieked.

"Sweet Jesus! What happened to you?!"

"I'm cursed." Adrien replied simply, as though the answer was obvious, "Bad luck." Emilie crossed her arms. Zoe decided to make Gabriel even more miserable and held out her hand to Emilie politely,

"Pleasure to meet you, miss. You're as lovely as Adrien says." Gabriel knew what she was doing and gave her the finger. Emilie whirled around to face him,

"YOU TRIED TO KILL THIS GIRL?!" Gabriel fidgeted, while Zoe walked up to the guest room and put the piece of soul in Eli's chest.

He opened his eyes, but they were hollow and empty—and lacking pupils, which was a creepy detail. He didn't respond to anything she did, just laid there like a lifeless doll.

Zoe sighed, "Good enough." She picked him up gently and set him in the living room for Harrison to take care of.

She walked down to the kitchen to restock their food, and Emilie was already down there,

"Oh my!" She brought Zoe into a hug, and poor Zoe almost shrieked, but remembered this was Adrien's kind mother and not her own cruel mother, regardless of physical similarities, "You're so depressed! You must love him."

"More than anything." She replied sadly, breaking free of the hug and grabbing some cheese to eat, because she was hungry and wasn't in the mood to eat zombie flesh. "That's why we're leaving as soon as possible."

She walked back upstairs and saw Harrison gently rocking Eli like a little baby, and the boy in question was looking up at him, but it was unclear if he could actually see or just had his eyes open yet glazed over. She kissed his forehead tenderly,

"Be back soon, love." She pointed to Adrien, Eden, Dausi and Felix, "Time to go. All packed?"

"Yup!" Adrien nodded, "And disposed of the zombie flesh!"

"Okay then." Dausi rolled her eyes, holding up a bottle of that looked like scotch, "Off we go!"

OoOoO

Princess Zoe wondered aimlessly through the castle, lost in thought. She found her feet following the route she had taken so many times in the past.

Pushing the door open, she found herself in the portrait room. She stood at one end of the long, thin room and stared at the vast array of paintings on the wall. Her whole family history was mapped out in here. At the end where she was stood were portraits of the first kings and queens of Corona. As she moved down the room, the portraits became more recent. She stared up at the familiar pictures, spotting the family resemblances.

Reaching the far end of the room, she stopped in front of the portrait of her family. Her mother and father stood side by side, baby Zoe cradled in her mother's arms. She smiled up at her mother's familiar face. Although she had only been five when Queen Maeve died, she had been visiting this room for as long as she could remember and her beautiful face framed by the blonde hair imprinted in her brain. She glanced at the much younger version of her father and sighed at the happy, carefree expression he wore in the picture. It had been a long time since she had seen him look like that.

The princess turned her attention to the smaller family portrait that was next to hers. This painting, along with her mother's, was the reason she had spent so much time in here over the years. She smiled sadly as she took in the familiar faces of Amelia and Harrison. They were seated close together on a small couch that she recognized from their rooms. Harrison had one arm draped around Amelia's shoulders and the other ruffled the hair of the child on her lap. Zoe stared at the tiny almost one year old. His messy chocolate hair stuck up in all directions and his vibrant violet eyes stared at her from the picture.

Zoe sighed. The boy had been taken from the castle on the day of his first birthday, soon after the portrait had been finished, and this was the only memory she had of him. Zoe had only been just born when the boy was taken, so she didn't remember anything of him. She had grown up seeing Harrison and Amelia morning the loss of their son, praying that one day he would return to them. Every year on his birthday, witches from all over the land would journey to Corona and, on the stroke of midnight, they would each send a ball of light into the air and pray that one day he would see them and come home.

Although Zoe knew of the torment Harrison went through every day of his life, that wasn't the reason she came to this room to stare at the picture. She had heard the prophecies that had been made since her birth her whole life. Heard the stories of the warlock who would stand by her side and help her make Corona into the greatest kingdom in the whole land. The prophecies had predicted the day that the famed warlock would be born and, on that day, Amelia had given birth to a healthy baby boy. A baby boy who was moving objects with magic when he was barely a day old.

The boy's name hadn't been mentioned within the castle walls since his disappearance sixteen years ago. Zoe understood that any mention of the boy's name upset Harrison greatly; she didn't understand why no one called him by his name when they weren't in his presence. In fact Zoe wasn't even sure she could remember the name it had been so long since someone had spoken it; she was sure it began with 'E' though.

But then on that fateful day, everything had changed. The boy had been taken from the castle, right under all their noses. No one had seen anything or knew who had taken him or where they had gone. Ever since that day, her father, Amelia and Harrison had been searching everywhere for some sign of him but there had been no word, until Amelia too vanished without a trace.

"Zoe?"

Zoe turned to see her father behind her. She had been so lost in thought that she hadn't heard him enter the room. She was surprised to see the king there; she knew how much it pained him to see the picture of his lost wife who had been killed by Amelia's vengeful sister, Melanie.

"I thought I would find you here." Kelly said with a fond smile.

He turned his gaze upon the two paintings that Zoe had been looking at and sighed. He knew the amount of time his eldest daughter spent in here and it worried him. It wasn't that it was affecting her duties or responsibilities, it was that he was worried about the unhealthy amount of time that Zoe spend dwelling on her lost arranged fiancé.

"I want to go find him." Zoe announced.

Kelly sighed, over the years they had had this conversation may times and his answer still wasn't going to change.

"You can't, the risk is too great." He repeated the words he had told her so many times over the years.

"Yet you send the knights out to find him all the time. You know that I am a better fighter than any of them. I can look after myself." Zoe reasoned.

"Zoe, you are the crown princess of Corona, your life is…worth more than theirs." Kelly replied wearily.

"Dad, you know the prophecies as well as I do. He has to be found otherwise what is the point of me becoming Queen?"

"Zoe, you will be Queen whether he returns to us or not. You have to focus on that rather than the lost boy. The knights will find him, you'll see."

"And what if they don't?" Zoe asked morosely, "What if I can't be a good Queen without him?"

Kelly sighed as he realized he had finally found the real root of her obsession. It pained him that his daughter had grown up with everyone having such great expectations of her. What made it worse was that she had been told she couldn't do these things without her lost fiancé.

"Whether he is found or not will make no difference." Kelly said truthfully, "Zoe, you will be a great Queen. No matter what happens to anyone else or what anyone says, it is your decisions and actions as that will dictate what kind of Queen you will be. I know that you will make me proud."

Zoe smiled as Kelly clasped her on the shoulder and exited the room. Turning back to the portrait of the lost boy, Zoe thought over his father's words. He was right; it was her actions that would decide how her future would turn out. So, she was going to take action now; she was going to find him, and bring him home.

**A/N: So the Princess version is an alternate version of Zoe, and the plot of the next world they will go to. Review and tell me if you want me to do Kelly and crew's point of view, or continue with the adventure. **

**Or just review anyway, because Cheeto the Author kwami needs food! Transforming to prove a point to Zoe took a lot out of her.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I got 50:50 votes, so I have decided to do one tonight and the other ASAP**

**Chapter 5: Of revenge, Goldschläger, and memories**

Gabriel sat in his room with Natalie, just grumbling at how kind Kelly was being to Emilie, almost like he was gonna make a move on his—ex, but he didn't want to admit that—wife.

"How in god's name did he manage that?" Natalie asked, looking out the door to see the trio of doom and destruction doting over a very floppy and lifeless Eli.

"Unfortunately, from Emilie's perspective, Kelly looks like an angel who would do anything to protect his family, which he sadly is. Murderer, yes, but his reasoning of killing the old guardian is justified. But this also puts me in a tough spot, especially with Zoe and Eden acting like perfect little sweethearts—or at least Zoe doesn't give enough fucks to bother."

"He is terrifying, and I'm still scared of him." Natalie said, remembering the horrors of watching him murder the fuck out of that old man, "But he is actually really nice when you aren't on his (s)hit list. He's been helping me around the house—I'm not helping." She shrugged, "But at the very least, he and Zoe taught Adrien three forms of martial arts, which will be helpful on the quest."

"And I am beautiful." They both turned and saw Kelly leaning in the doorway with a wry smirk on his face, leaning at just the right angle that his chiseled abs were visible through his grey long-sleeved shirt. Gabriel had to admit it was clear where Zoe got her looks from, and Kelly had a rugged yet clean aesthetic that was like the dream for any fashion designer in need of an adult model.

But that didn't mean Gabriel liked the man who stole his wife—grateful he had woken her up, but still pissed—but he wasn't going to deny that statement. No homo.

"You're terrible."

"Better than you." Kelly snapped playfully, "I didn't sacrifice or try to kill my children." The was no malice in his tone, but one thing he knew about the Carpenter father was that his eyes told the story, not his tone, and he was quite angry still. He had thought Zoe's eyes was so piercing they saw your soul, but they were dull as hell compared to Kelly's. But that might have been his scary mind powers.

But he wasn't going to let the tall, muscular murderer talk shit about him without pointing out the man's own flaws.

"You were on business and didn't know your daughter was being abused!"

"I also wasn't the one to abuse them." Kelly retaliated, and Emilie was listening in on the conversation, "And I took action the second I learned of it. If it weren't for Maeve fucking the judge and giving him turkey sandwiches—which for some reason changed the trial completely, American justice is pretty fucked up—I would have gotten custody. But I didn't come up here to start a shit session. The others and I were wondering if you wanted to join us downstairs."

"Um…okay." They went downstairs, and while Emilie started up pleasant conversation with Natalie, Gabriel felt deeply uncomfortable. Harrison was spoon-feeding Eli some pudding, because while he was still technically in a coma—not responding to anything—he now required sustenance.

Emilie went off to go make some lunch and Gabriel glared at Kelly,

"This is your fault. You made _me_ seem like the bad guy!"

Kelly chuckled, setting down his drink—probably coffee—and shrugged, "I woke her up. I just forgot to bring up that she would be pissed. But in my defense, I _know_ Zoe told you that repeatedly."

"I should have known you wouldn't help me just to be nice." Kelly gave him the finger,

"You stabbed my daughter, made her bleed out, go into a coma, then had an akuma try to drop her off the Eiffel Tower. Any self-respecting parent will make the person who hurt their baby suffer. I sent Maeve a ton of glitter bombs, because that stuff gets everywhere and cleaning it all up is harder than teaching a magical toddler that the mailman isn't a bad guy and killing him is frowned upon." Knowing Zoe, there was no way that wasn't a real-life example.

"Hey," Harrison snapped, "At least you all have an alive and functioning child!" As if on cue, Eli started coughing, and choked…on pudding.

"No!" Harrison started prying Eli's mouth open, "Spit it out, Eli!"

"Not sure what's going to be harder." Natalie used, "Surviving each other, dealing with the man who haunts my nightmares, or keeping Eli alive."

Harrison had his hand in Eli's mouth, trying to get the pudding out, because Heimlich maneuver wouldn't work on something had had the consistency of liquid, "I'd choose Kelly, because he's great if you aren't on his shit list."

"Thanks Harry. Let me help you out." Harrison took his hand out of Eli's mouth and Kelly gently massaged the boy's throat, and put one finger just past the gag reflex on the roof of his mouth. Eli lurched and coughed out the pudding onto a paper towel Kelly had grabbed.

"You are a wizard." Gabriel awed, genuinely having thought that boy was going to die.

"Zoe was born at month five." Kelly replied, "While magical babies always have an accelerated pregnancy, Zoe was in a mortal world, where that wasn't healthy at all. So she was in the ICU for about a month, and even then, swallowing was hard for her. Maeve had had a rough labor, so she was on bedrest, so it was up to me to care for her. I learned how to do it very quickly."

"Sounds like Zoe gave you a lot of problems." Natalie responded with a chuckle.

"No, not really. I lived with a witch family where the mother was fucking men and giving birth all the time. There were a good ninety of them in the ten years I lived with that family, so I got good and caring for babies. But that is why Zoe is tinier than anyone in her genes, she's always been small, but puberty made up for that. She was hardly the size or weight of a grapefruit when she was born."

"Was Eden like that?" Harrison asked curiously, "I remember Amelia gave birth to Eli at month six, and he was just like a baby at nine months."

"I bound Eden's powers while she was in the womb." Kelly replied simply, "Zoe put a lot of strain on Maeve, so I didn't want to risk it again. You see, magical babies—because of how early they come—are very dangerous for non-magical women. It is not uncommon for the woman to die in childbirth, more often than not actually. I didn't want to risk it with Maeve, so I bound Eden's powers. In hindsight, I probably should have risked it with all the trauma Zoe went through."

Gabriel gasped quietly, while Harrison crossed his arms, looking at his doll-like son, "Okay…now what do we feed you?"

"Why not something that dissolves?" Both men cocked their heads, seemingly unaware what that was. It was freaky how in-synch they were. "Like Banana Puffs."

"I'm on it!" Natalie ran off faster than her high heels should have allowed her to. Kelly frowned,

"What did I do to scare her so badly? She's never thought about it, she seems to do everything she can to _not_ think about it."

"It was when you murdered the guardian right in front of her."

"Oh."

Harrison grunted, trying to move Eli from the couch to the bed they had brought down to the living room, "Damnit. Why must you have so much muscle?" Kelly just picked the youth up and set him down like he weighed nothing.

"There you go."

Gabriel found himself awed by what he was seeing. Zoe definitely took after her father, with being ruthless, but also one of the most caring people you could find.

"I can't lose him too." Harrison bowed his head, and Gabriel felt a little offended at the topic change that excluded him.

"He'll be fine. If I know Zoe as well as I think I do, she'll be a stubborn ass until she saves him."

"Agreed." Kelly replied with a chuckle, "Especially with the hormones."

"Okay, question." Gabriel frowned, "How can you not have known Maeve was abusing Zoe, since you had mind reading powers?"

"When Maeve found out about my power, she made me promise not to use it on her. You can tell when I'm reading your mind if you look for it. A small squeeze in the frontal lobe."

"Is it a power you can turn off?"

"I can control who. That's about it. If I get a headache, I can feel everyone and everything."

"…So I can't let you get drunk or have too much caffeine."

"Meh. Deprive me of coffee and I will tell Natalie that you are rethinking your feelings for her every since I erased the breakup pain so I wouldn't have to deal with that shit."

"Ugh! I'm so going to be blackmailed!"

"Correct. And Natalie's here, debating whether to come in." Harrison got up and opened the door, taking the food from Natalie and feeding it to his son.

Natalie yelped in horror and Harrison laughed at Kelly's smirking face, "Are you speaking in her mind?"

"Yup." Kelly answered honestly, "I am going to get so many blackmail opportunities." Emilie came in with some steak,

"Lunch."

_"__You love Natalie. Suck it up. Emilie wouldn't care." _Gabriel found himself blushing furiously at Kelly's words, and he could tell Natalie had gone through similar treatment.

"So you're Namine, only with thoughts instead of memories?" Emilie asked, and Kelly threw his hands out,

"Yes! Thank you! Didn't take you for a _Kingdom Hearts _fan."

"I've been playing it since I got pregnant with Adrien. Never introduced it to him due to the mature themes in later games."

"You mean the depression and suicide? I agree. But it's a rite of passage in my family." He looked to Gabriel, "Okay Gabe, would you believe that Zoe was shy and soft-spoken when she was little."

"Not at all."

"Might be Maeve's abuse, but her teachers complained about severe shyness. And she had a panic attack in Spanish class when she got called on, even though she was fluent. If you got her truly scared, she could faint and occasionally have a seizure. Honestly, until I taught her to fight, she was really meek."

"Little Zoe sounds adorable." Gabriel said, "Could I have gotten that one?"

"No." Kelly pulled out his phone, "I have a picture. Here's Zoe on her thirteenth birthday." Her hair was long, and she was wearing a short-sleeved ice-blue shirt and navy jeans. She had an innocence to her face that didn't scream 'I have killed people'.

"How is that the same girl?" Gabriel asked, "She's even tinier than I thought!"

"Yeah." Kelly smiled fondly at the picture of his daughter, "She was 4'10 when this picture was taken."

"I mean seriously." He took the phone, trying to place the girl in the picture with the Zoe he knew. "She looks like a normal, happy girl. Like Marinette or some other shy girl."

"That's how she gets you." Kelly replied, "Always fear the small ones, the don't hit harder, but they hit more often and faster, and that is the deadlier tactic." He sighed, "However, Maeve was in Tokyo that week, something about a cousin dying or some shit like that. I personally think she was cheating on me, or just going on vacation. But I took Zoe to the shooting range and the batting cages, then we bought literally everything at Taco Bell and binged watched the _Star Wars _movies, then _Spaceballs_ because why the fuck not." He flipped through more pictures of that day, and Gabriel noted Zoe was really adorable. Her wearing a baseball helmet that was a size or two too large was adorable.

"I know Maeve shot her." He said after a moment—Emilie was in the bathroom now, completely unaware to what Zoe had endured—"Nobody deserves that." He frowned, "But seriously, did you marry the first bitch you came across?"

"Yes and no." Kelly responded, "Maeve was different back then. She was my first real friend. She got me to marry her with three words: Let's try Goldschläger. And four hours later…" She showed them a photo of him and Maeve, at their wedding.

Harrison glared at the computer screen, "Wait…your best man was a goat. I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THAT GOAT!" Gabriel roared with laugher as Emilie came out of the bathroom,

"You eloped?! Oh that is priceless!"

"We weren't gonna keep the marriage." Kelly snapped, "Then we discovered we had conceived Zoe…and we actually fell in love."

Emilie looked at the computer, flipping through pictures, "Hold it…what color are Maeve's eyes?" To the shock of everyone, Kelly's eyes glazed over, before he jerked up,

"What?"

And everyone forgot the question.

"So wine." Natalie said out of the blue. "Red or white."

"Zoe likes white." Kelly mused, "Hates red."

"Tell that to Eli when he's proposing." Harrison responded, "But I think we should get something stronger. Bar tonight?"

"You guys are nice and all." Gabriel said, "But take no offense when I say, no thanks."

"You don't have a choice."

"Okay."

Emilie smiled, "I'll stay here and take care of Eli." Gabriel groaned,

_Both of those places have an equal chance of me being spotted and annoying reporters trying to converse…_

"Oh!" Kelly smirked, "You don't want to be spotted!" His eyes twinkled a little, "Don't worry. I'll make sure nobody recognizes you."

OoOoO

Kelly and Harrison were wearing their usual clothing—and their weddings rings even though they were both single but neither wanted to be flirted with—Natalie was wearing a tight blue dress and Gabriel was Gabriel, so he was wearing normal clothing.

"Water please." Harrison said, while Kelly got Goldschläger for Gabriel and Natalie, because he felt like it.

Using his mind powers to convince the two that they were drinking water, things went marvelously to plan within minutes. Was this illegal? Probably. And definitely immoral. But it was so worth it. Gabriel and Natalie deserved a break, and as former supervillains, they deserved each other.

"We are the best wingmen ever." Harrison said with a laugh. Kelly was planting suggestive thoughts in both designer and assistant's minds. It was common knowledge that if Emilie didn't exist, Natalie would have been Gabriel's wife. If Gabriel hadn't learned of the way to bring Emilie back, Natalie would have been his wife. Kelly knew this. He just wanted it to happen. It was bound to, but when had any member of the Carpenter family been patient?

Harrison drank some more water, "Kels, you gonna go for Emilie?"

Kelly sighed, "I don't know. I like her, I really do, a small part of me actually loves her. But what about Zoe? Sabine is the only woman older than her that gained her trust. If I tell Zoe that I love Emilie, she'll be silently resigned, Emilie would be mine, she would say 'I am fine' but she would be lying." He looked over Harrison's shoulder, "Oh! Looks like Adrien is gonna get a half-sibling."

Harrison laughed, "Have we changed at all since we were teenagers?"

"Not at the core. But we have changed. We're both fathers now, and we know the responsibilities."

"And in the near future, we are both going to be grandfathers. Still in our early forties, I look twenty, still could get a sexy date, but we are gonna be hearing the pitter patter of little feet. Maybe our grandchild, maybe a new Agreste baby. Or both."

"Kels, you're talking cryptically again. Are you drinking?"

"Coffee. Not booze." Harrison nodded,

"Agreed. I'm not an alcoholic, but it's only a matter of time." Kelly brightened,

"Mind powers are telling me of the basic baby conception alert!"

"You can just sense that?!"

"Shameless. My powers are a blessing and a curse. But here's the catch: it's all of their own will, the alcohol is a subconscious blame. All I needed to do was give them the push."

"Really? Sweet!" He smirked, "Wanna tell them tomorrow, or wait until the symptoms start up?"

"Wait until the symptoms. So two weeks. Two agonizing weeks."

"Wanna have Emilie tell them by giving Gabriel shit?"

"Fuck yes." He took a sip of his drink, looking around at the sexy women giving them flirtatious looks, "So do we stay? Or do we take the steamy lovebirds and leave?"

Harrison shrugged, "We could go to the arcade like we used to as teenagers and just leave them to their lovemaking in peace." They fist-bumped,

"I like your style. They have enough lust to last three hours."

"Just make sure I don't lash out at any kids."

"No promises."

OoOoO

In a dark tower in a plain surrounded by barren wasteland, a woman with long dark hair sat over a cauldron. Her violet eyes shone with malice as she watched the couple at the bar.

By her side were two younger women. One had jet black hair and equally black eyes, the other had platinum blonde hair and grey-green eyes and was clearly the youngest of the three.

"Mother, what are you doing?" The youngest asked curiously.

"Nothing you should worry about, Molara. You neither, Maescia. But what you do need to worry about are these." She pulled out two identical black boxes, "Do not open them, just put them somewhere dangerous on the world you normally reside on, and make sure the heroes can't get to it before it snuffs out. The Worldbender is with child, whether she knows it or not. For her to lose her other half would destroy her. The faster we break her, the faster we can prevent the prophecy from coming to past, and we may even be able to raise the child as our own. She killed my eldest daughter, so she will pay."

Maescia nodded, "Of course, mother. Should I bring one to Melanie?"

"No need. There is already one on her world. Now run along darlings. I've got some business to attend to." The two women left, and the lead witch entered her bedroom where a blonde man was waiting.

"Regina, ready?"

"Of course."

**A/N: And another mess has happened. Next chapter is the adventure. I'm trying to do every other, or something along those lines. And then that little thing about Maeve's eye color, that is important.**

**Goldschläger is a very strong alcohol **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: As promised, here is some adventure.**

**Chapter 6: More than one?**

They landed on the world without any trouble whatsoever. Adrien laughed in relief at how pleasant the place looked, with all the grass and the trees and the flowers and no dangerous things to be found.

"Guys…" Felix pointed out, "Aren't y'all missing something?" He pointed to himself, and they noted their clothes had changed. Felix wore a royal purple long-sleeved shirt and dark trousers.

Adrien was wearing a dark tunic with a dark crimson collar, a dark blue long-sleeved undershirt, and dark trousers.

The women were stuck in feminine outfits that it was common knowledge was hated by Zoe. The girl in question's outfit consisted of a dress with a long-sleeved vest over blouse and bodice favoring a blue-black color scheme.

Eden's was a violet dress with a sweetheart bodice with bronze trim and dark purple, maroon rosemaling on the skirt and bodice, dark brown flats with gold outlines and violet stockings underneath.

Dausi won the aware of fanciest. She wore an emerald green off-the-shoulder dress with a right knee-high slit, a sweetheart bodice which was covered in teal crystals that are patterned to resemble leaves, and light green translucent short sleeves. Her sleeves and top of her bodice were decorated with pink flowers. She wore dark emerald green ice kitten heels.

"Oh." Zoe looked down at herself, "That's interesting. We should get looking." She gasped and leaned on a tree,

"Zo?" Eden asked, "You okay?"

"I'm fine." She said quietly, "Vertigo. I'm fine." Adrien wasn't convinced, but knew arguing with her was a terrible idea.

"Okay then…we should go before my bad luck powers trigger something dangerous."

Speak of the devil and he shall appear, the sounds of shouting could be heard and a young woman ran past them at a speed that was only feasible with a magical assistance.

A group of horses stopped in front of the team, and it was…their friends? Kagami seemed to be the leader, hopping down from her horse,

"Excuse me," she said, "Have you seen a woman come by this way? The princess by any chance, or maybe a thief. Dark hair, shares a striking resemblance with you." she pointed to Zoe, "Princess?"

Zoe frowned, "Haven't seen anyone. I'm Claudia. These are my siblings and my son. Emile," she pointed to Adrien, "Tenshi." Eden. "Angelica." Dausi, "And my son, Felix." Kagami looked them over, ushering for the others to keep looking for the woman who ran by.

"Hm. What are you doing out in these parts? Are you here for the festival?"

"No." Zoe responded honestly, "My love has been captured and is being held somewhere in the area. I don't want to raise our son without him."

Kagami's eyes widened, "I'll speak to King Kelly about helping you on your quest. For now, I need to go find the elusive princess." She hopped on her horse and galloped off.

"What the hell was that?" Dausi asked, Zoe shrugged.

"My Dad's…the king? Does that mean the girl we saw is—"

"Excuse me." They all turned and saw a girl there, the same one that ran past them. She was wearing a red-orange-gold vest with a white long-sleeved shirt underneath, coupled with black pants and brown bucket-top boots. She also wore a belt with a similar color scheme around her waist; connected to it was a miniature satchel. Over her eyes was a mask identical to the one Zoe wore as Fireheart. "I just wanted to thank you for what you did for me."

"Sure." Adrien responded, "Why are the guards after you? They said something about the princess…"

The girl tensed, "Oh. Princess Zoe, she ran off a while ago in search of her lost fiancé. They're after me because I stole said fiancé's crown." She shrugged, "I'm on a quest with the princess, to find the lost boy. It's said the crown glows blue in his presence." She held up the crown.

That sounded interesting. If there was an alternate Zoe, maybe there was an alternate Eli! If anyone knew where the piece was, it would be another version of her love.

"Can we help you?" Felix asked, "My Dada was taken too! We can help each other!"

"I don't see why not. I'm Fireheart. Resident thief." Zoe took her hand,

"Claudia."

OoOoO

They walked and made pleasant conversation with this alternate Zoe, pretending they didn't know exactly who she was.

"This would be a good place for a picnic after all of this is over." Dausi mused, shapeshifting to fly with the birds.

Fireheart chuckled, "Yeah. I would if my father let me."

"Why wouldn't he let you?" Eden asked, knowing their father was very relaxed.

"Ever since my mother was killed by a witch, Father has been very protective of me and my two sisters. He taught me how to fight, but something about this quest has both the king and my father uneasy." She leaned on a rock wall, only to shriek and fall backwards, breaking through a glamor spell, revealing a path behind some vines. "Woah… come on!"

They walked through a cave and Fireheart pulled out the crown, the main gem on it was now glowing a dim violet, matching Eli's eyes. Then they were met with the sight of a tall tower.

"Wow." Felix giggled, running along the edge to a small pond next to the tower. Zoe laughed and sat on the edge with him. Fireheart giggled,

"You guys wait here, I'm gonna go up." It was impressive that she didn't fly up, she climbed, with her bare hands, all the way up the tower, not hesitating or slipping.

Dausi turned into a fish to play with Felix in the water and the team laughed, while Zoe ate a small piece of cheese.

"Zoe…" Eden frowned, "I thought you hated orange cheddar." It was true, she liked European sharp white cheeses, the orange shit made her nauseous.

"I do. I'm just craving it right now, don't you judge me." Eden pursed her lips in a thin line.

"Sis…how many bedrooms did you get at your hotel in New York?"

"Two, one for Harrison and Felix, and one for Eli and I."

Adrien understood where Eden was going with this, "What did you two do?" And Zoe turned red.

"We watched a movie, _Ocean's 13_…and then we took a shower together to save money as Harrison was using the other bathroom. And then we slept together—you know what, why do you care?"

"Were you protected?"

"What?" It was debatable if she knew what they were referring to, but the red of her face seemed to suggest so, "No. Why would I be protected from Eli? I'm more a threat to him than he could ever be to me." So it was possible…

"Zoe…" Adrien paused, "Do you think it's possible that you're—"

"Don't you even go there." Zoe snapped, "Yes, I'm not a virgin. That doesn't mean anything! And look, other-me is coming down the—wait what?!"

A golden rope was tossed down, but it wasn't Fireheart using it.

It was Eli.

He too was wearing medieval clothing, mainly themed blue. He didn't pay them any heed, running past them excitedly.

Fireheart groaned, "Can you guys go up there and find the crown? He stole it, and says I need to take him to the festival. He's never left the tower before, so it has to be up there." Dausi frowned, turning into her white hawk form, jumping into the tower and mere seconds later coming out with the satchel.

Zoe looked to where the alternate version of Eli had run off, "Hm…go with him still. He'll need help. Trust me. You won't regret it." Fireheart crossed her arms challengingly,

"Fine. He's too innocent as it is. But the kingdom and I aren't exactly friendly right now."

They caught up with Eli, who was sobbing on a rock.

"You okay?" He jumped, holding his hand out as though that was a weapon,

"W-Who are you?" Fireheart slung her arm around him,

"My sidekicks, as I told you." She held up her satchel, and Eli's eyes widened,

"How did you—?!"

"Relax." Zoe assured, "We're still taking you. This is just a detour." She noticed the bag glowing violet with the light of the gem.

Fireheart crossed her arms, "Okay Eli, are you hungry? Let's go see my friends and get something to eat." She changed behind a tree, into a flattering, Renaissance-era crimson dress. The dress had a faintly dappled pattern with a gold trim and reached her feet. It had a matching sash with a gold buckle. She still had on the mask though. "This is how they know me."

OoOoO

Meanwhile, Melanie was making her way to obtain Eli's birthday presents. She took a rarely used path through a cavern and nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard something in the darkness. But when she lit a torch, she relaxed slightly when she saw it was just a palace horse.

Suddenly, her blood ran cold. "Where is your rider? Eli…ELI!" Unbeknownst to her, the rider was taking a dump, and the horse wasn't abandoned.

Quickly, she ran back to the tower. "Eli! Eli, let Mother up!" But when she didn't hear Eli's voice or see the shimmering rope, she grew more worried. "Eli, answer me!"

But again there was nothing.

Fully panicking, Melanie ran around the back of the tower. She blasted away the rocks that concealed the secret entrance and then she went inside.

She climbed up the staircase and came in through a trapdoor. The tower was dark and empty. She searched it frantically through every nook and cranny, but Eli was gone. Whether someone had found him and taken him or he'd just gone off on her own, Melanie knew not. But she did know that Eli had to be found and returned as soon as possible if she was to remain healthy. The chronic illness that she had had ever since she was a baby, Eli's powers were the only thing keeping her alive. And her mother had been insistent on making sure the boy stayed in his tower.

Desperately needing answers, she turned to her Scrying Pool and recited a spell.

"Guiding spirits I ask your charity,

Lend me your focus and clarity,

Lead me to what I cannot find,

To restore that and my peace of mind."

The water in the Scrying Pool shimmered and then it showed Eli leaving the tower and heading into the forest with a young woman who looked terribly familiar, alongside a group of people her mother had spoken of.

"Princess Zoe!" she hissed. The young princess had long been a thorn in her side, one she longed to be rid of forevermore. And now the little brat had gone off with her flower! How dare she!

Since Melanie's Scrying Pool only showed images, she had no way of knowing for certain where exactly Eli and the princess were going.

_Think. Think. _Then it came to her. _The lights Eli was babbling about earlier. That's where he's gone. If he learns what they really are, this could ruin everything!_

She had to find Eli, and quickly.

OoOoO

As time went by, Fireheart, Eli, and the team journeyed deep into the forest.

Everything about the forest fascinated Eli—the trees, the plants, the streams, berry bushes, everything. He didn't ask a lot of questions as he didn't want to annoy them, but one could tell by the look on his face that he was quite excited. Felix had been showing off his knowledge by telling him about all the things anyway, trying to stay close to the boy who looked like his Dada.

Eventually, when Zoe felt more ill, they stopped walking when they came upon a little tavern.

Fireheart turned to Eli. "Eli, want to get some cider?"

"I've never had any. Mother never let me." Eli said softly.

"Well, we'll have to remedy that, won't we?" Fireheart took his hand. "Come on. I know this place. You'll like it, trust me."

She led him inside the tavern where there was a large amount of noise from the tavern's customers. They were either chatting, or having toasts or singing horribly off-key. It was mainly handsome men, there were also a few harlots.

One of the men was laughing after collecting his card-game winnings.

"Hello, Chat." Fireheart greeted. "Win another game of cards?"

Chat Noir looked up and smiled when he saw Fireheart—Adrien was very confused to see himself. "Ah, Fire. Good to see you. Had a bit of trouble getting here from the castle, but it was so worth it." He took a sip of his drink. "So, who're your pretty lady friends and the shy boy?"

Eli was timidly peering out from behind Fireheart. He clearly felt quite shy and somewhat frightened around all the men with their armor and weapons. The group just sat down and ordered some drinks, while Zoe took to laying down on a bench.

"It's okay. These men are my friends." Fireheart said gently, as she squeezed his hand. "No one here is going to hurt you, I promise."

Feeling somewhat relieved by this, Eli finally came out fully.

"My name is Eli."

"Pleasure to meet you, Eli." A man who looked like Carapace said, smiling warmly. "I'm Carapace. This is Chat, Viperion, and Ladybug." The singular girl in the group smiled happily.

"I'm pleased to make your acquaintance." Eli said, smiling a little.

Suddenly, an angry woman yelled, "FIREHEART!"

They turned to see the barmaid looking very cross as she held up Felix, who'd snuck off. The little boy was dangling upside-down by his feet and finishing off a piece of meat. He then licked his lips and let out a happy noise.

"Your friend's son just ate my entire roast!" the barmaid said angrily.

Fireheart tried and failed to stifle a laugh. Felix looked timid,

"I gave it to Mama." He said, "She's been really hungry as of late. I'm sorry, ma'am."

The barmaid, who looked like Alya, looked at Zoe, before she sighed, "Just don't do it again, sweetheart. Just bring this to your mother." She gave him two tarts, and Felix ran over with a skip in his step.

"Eli, go sit down. I'll pay for the roast and get us some cider." Fireheart said. The tavern-mates went to join the other team.

"So, how'd you wind up with Fireheart?" Ladybug asked.

"Oh, um, well…he came to my tower and I asked him for a favor. I promised to give him his satchel back if he took me to see the lanterns tomorrow night for my birthday." Eli said, shyly.

"We just bumped into her." Adrien said, "My sisters and I are looking for someone. I'm Emile."

"You haven't seen the lanterns before?" Chat Noir asked, surprised.

Eli shrugged "I could only watch from my window. It's been my dream to see the lanterns in person ever since I was a little boy."

As the talking ceased, a boy who was sitting at the window, whistled. "The knights are coming!"

Fireheart bit back a groan before she turned to Chat. "Kitty, you know full well that Eli, my sidekicks and I have to go. Is there a backdoor out of here, by any chance?"

"Sure, Fire." Chat nodded. He led them to a secret passage behind the counter that led down into an underground tunnel.

"This'll take you down the road to Corona," Viperion said "It's not the route you're used to, Fireheart, but it'll work. I've used it dozens of times."

"Thank you very much, sir," Eli said, smiling. Zoe turned to Eli, who was sticking his head in tankard of cider. "Fe, we're leaving!"

Felix got up, scurried over to his mother and then jumped up on her shoulders.

"Good luck to you all," Ladybug said, smiling.

"Thanks, LB." Fireheart responded with a wink.

Eli took her arm and then together, they went down into the tunnel, unaware that Melanie had seen it all and was planning to catch them when they reached the tunnel's end.

OoOoO

Hours later, they were still in the tunnel.

Because it was so dark, Eden had had to light a torch so they could see their way. Felix walked ahead while Zoe and Dausi trailed behind with Adrien and the copied duo in the center. Eli kept his hand on Fireheart's arm so they wouldn't get accidentally separated from one another.

Zoe found herself jealous of…herself? It was hard to understand, but she knew how Adrien and Marinette had felt in their love square.

They'd been talking throughout the entire trip down the tunnel and were liking one another more and more. They had several common interests. They liked the same foods, music and they were both interested in magic and so much more. It was quite pleasant.

"I'm sorry if my friends startled you when you met them." Fireheart said.

"No, no, I was just a little shy, that's all. Your friends were wonderful. Perfectly charming," Eli said.

"Don't let Chat hear you say that. He's my friend, like a brother to me, but he's an enormous flirt."

Eli giggled. "Princess, may I ask you a question?" Fireheart turned in horror, and he rubbed the back of his neck, "Sorry…you look like one…just as a nickname…"

"Alright. Sure. As many as you'd like, if you don't mind me asking a few."

"Okay," Eli said "Where do you come from?"

"Well, I was born and raised in the city of Corona with my sisters, Eden and Joselyn, and my surrogate brother, Lord Adrien, heir of the Agreste household. That's Chat, total dork who resents propriety every since he fell in love with the local seamstress, Marinette. My turn, Eli, if you want to see the lanterns so badly, why haven't you gone before now?"

He hesitated. "Well…"

He was cut off when Felix ran back to them g and there was the sound of rumbling. They turned to see that there was a large group of men running towards them. Kagami was right at the lead and she didn't look happy.

"Guys, run!" Fireheart yelled. Zoe used her Worldbender powers to change their dresses into tunics and pants. As she ran, Zoe stayed behind for a moment and flung out her hands, making Kagami and her men fly backwards.

They ran outside, only to find that the path to Corona was farther away than they'd expected and worse, they were standing on the edge of a cliff where a somewhat fragile dam and aqueduct system lay. There was a ladder leading down, but it was incredibly steep and too dangerous.

Just then, Kagami and her men came up from behind them. Zoe transformed into Heartless and blasted them away again, but she knew it wouldn't last long because of how tired she was. They'd be back in just a few moments.

She turned to Adrien. "Adrien, touch the dam!"

"What?!"

"Just do it!"

Adrien huffed and touched the dam, and his bad luck transferred to it, causing the dam to burst open.

"Mama!" Felix cried, being carried by Eli as they ran away.

"I'm coming!"

Quickly, she used a piece of scrapped metal and used it to slide down the falling water, grabbing everyone else.

"We made it," Eli said, as he caught her breath. "You saved us." He hugged Zoe, and she found herself blushing.

Eli turned to Fireheart, but then he noticed the girl was clutching her arm.

"Fireheart, what's wrong with your arm?" Dausi asked. Without waiting for a reply, Eli pried her fingers off the place on her arm she was clutching and gasped when he saw what she'd tried to hide. "Fireheart!"

The sleeve of Fireheart's jacket was torn and there was a nasty-looking wound on her arm. Most likely she'd gotten cut on the rocks or during their escape into the tunnels. Quickly, Dausi tore off part of her skirt and made a makeshift bandage to use for the moment.

When they made camp later that night, Eli had Fireheart sit down beside him and then he took her hand.

"Eli, honestly, I'm fine. It's nothing. It's just a scratch." Fireheart said, trying and failing to get out of his grasp.

"Fireheart, you're not fine. You got hurt trying to protect me. Please, hold still and let me help you." Thankfully, she'd finally stopped protesting and was staying still as he asked. "Don't be frightened."

Before she could reply, he closed his eyes and started singing.

_"__Flower, gleam and glow_

_Let your power shine_

_Make the clock reverse_

_Bring back what once was mine_

_Heal what has been hurt_

_Change the Fates' design_

_Save what has been lost_

_Bring back what once was mine_

_What once was mine."_

Everyone watched in amazement as a mark could be seen glowing gold through Eli's shirt, a mark Zoe knew very well. He removed Fireheart's hand from his arm, and they all gasped to find there was no wound because it was completely healed, as if it had never been there at all. Even her torn jacket sleeve was completely mended, as if it hadn't been torn at all.

"Wow," Fireheart said. She looked gratefully at Eli. "Thank you."

"You're not scared of me?"

"Scared of you? Why would I be? Your gift is amazing." She said, kindly. "How long have you been able to do that? Were you born with magic, like my sidekicks?" Sidekick was more of a nickname than a lie at this point.

Relieved she was taking it so well, Eli nodded. "I believe so. I don't know any spells and I can't do what these people do, but I can heal anything." His mood darkened, "But you can't always trust people. My mother told me when I was a baby, people tried to take my power for themselves by binding most of my powers, hence the mark on my arm. But with that song, I can use the healing power. My gift has to be protected, kept secret, so that's why Mother never let…that's why I…"

"You never left that tower." Eden finished. She looked at him incredulously. "You spent your entire life in there, never leaving until this morning, and you want us to take you back there after the festival tomorrow night?"

Eli sighed as he looked down at his hands. "It's complicated." Wanting to change the subject, he then said, "Fireheart, tell me about your parents."

Fireheart sighed, "Okay. Confession…." she took off her mask, "My real name is Princess Zoe LaMotte. I ran away from the castle to look for someone. My fiancé. He was taken from the castle." She gestured to the satchel, "The crown is supposed to tell me who is is when I find him. But my father doesn't approve."

Eli's face went dark, almost in jealousy. But he shrugged, "Sorry I dragged you into this. You clearly have more pressing matters."

Fireheart—as she would still be called to avoid confusion—wrapped an arm around him and stroked his hair. "It is wonderful. Maybe I'll take you there sometime."

"You're so lucky."

Fireheart smiled, she also looked a little bitter, like she regretted something. "I feel luckier now that I've met you." They sat in silence before Zoe's stomach growled, "So, what would you like instead? Just name it and I'll make it. I need practice with my powers anyway."

Eli looked up "Strawberries."

"Strawberries it is." She muttered something under her breath as she cupped his hands. But a rose appeared instead of a strawberry.

Fireheart blushed as Eli giggled.

"That's not a strawberry."

"It's the right color, though." Fireheart joked. She handed him the beautiful red blossom.

"Thank you," he said, as he smelled its fragrance. "It's beautiful."

She smiled. "You're welcome."

She did eventually conjured strawberries and some other food for them to eat. It was all delicious and after an hour or so of talking, they put out the fire and went to sleep.

OoOoO

Sometime during the night, Zoe shivered a little in the chilly night air, and then she felt something covering her. She peeked open her eyes to find that Dausi had placed her jacket over her shoulders and was curling up on her side to go back to sleep.

She was deeply touched by her former inner demon's kindness.

Zoe got up and curled into Eden and Dausi's side and conjured a giant blanket—giving Adrien his own so he didn't infect them with bad luck.

"Thank you, Dausi." She whispered, before she fell into a deep slumber.

**A/N: So Eloe has returned in it's own way. Next chapter will probably be both Kelly and Zoe's scenarios.**

**And remember to review to feed the author kwami!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Stay awake**

The next morning, everyone woke up to the sound of alternate-Eli cooking. Adrien was swearing colorfully because his bad luck curse had kicked in and only his egg had been burned. And every egg they tried to cook him after that, but Zoe ate the burned eggs without any shame.

Fireheart shrugged, "Ready to go?" Eli nodded gleefully.

They went in through the gates and walked up the stone path leading up to the city.

It was even more beautiful than any of them had imagined. Every building was tall and white, there were houses and shops by the dozen, more people than Eli had ever seen in his life, and a magnificent castle in the distance. Colorful ribbons and flags banners with dragons and suns and flowers were everywhere. There were shops selling delicious smelling foods, and beautiful trinkets.

Zoe was so caught up in the moment of it all that she didn't realize her dress was very dirty and her hair was even more of a mess. And she felt like the dress that had fit fine yesterday was tight around her midsection. She looked down and saw the bump on her stomach had gotten larger. She thought she had been eating enough…

"Okay, we'd better deal with this." Adrien said. He frowned until he saw a young lady with pale skin and light brown hair a shade lighter than Eden's, wearing a lavender gown. He whistled, catching her attention. "Hey, come here a moment!"

The girl spotted Fireheart and ran over to them.

"Zoe, where've you been? We've been so worried!" She said. Then she saw the others and she held out her hand. "Oh, hello. I'm Joselyn, but everyone calls me Jos. I'm the youngest princess. What's your name?"

"Eli." He said, as he shook Joselyn's hand, taking in her light blue-violet eyes. Eden looked extremely uncomfortable, and nobody knew why.

"Pleasure." Joselyn said.

Fireheart nodded and then said, "Listen, Jos, could you do me a favor and clean them up while I run a quick errand? I'd be eternally grateful."

Joselyn nodded. "Yes, of course. I help Zoe and Eden all the time. This shouldn't be too hard," She took Eli's hand. "Come with me."

The team followed Joselyn to her handmaiden's house where she sat on a chair and then Joselyn set to work. She brushed and braided Zoe's hair while they chatted and giggled over Fireheart's antics. They all became fast friends and an hour later, Fireheart returned with a package under her arm.

She smiled when she saw Eli, who was cleaned up. Zoe was wearing a looser dress.

Fireheart held out the package to Eli. "Happy birthday, Eli."

"Oh, Zoe, you shouldn't have," Eli said, as he opened it. He gasped when he saw the two gifts inside. The first item was a beautiful, flowing scarlet and violet silk suit with gold trimming and black shoes. The second item was an amulet of a blue jay, engraved with tiny silver leaves. "They're beautiful. Thank you."

Eli went behind the screen and changed into the new outfit with the help of Joselyn. After fastening his amulet, he came out and Fireheart's jaw dropped at his appearance.

"Wow," she said finally. "You look hot."

Eli blushed. "Thank you."

Felix smiled and then turned to Joselyn. "Thanks Jos?"

And with that, they left Joselyn's handmaiden's house and headed out for Eli's birthday celebrations. It was a beautiful day—warm, cloudless and sunny, and perfect for the day.

Eli found every tiny little thing exciting as it was all new to him, having led a solitary life for sixteen years. The sights, sounds, and smells were all wonderful. Everyone they met on his walk with Fireheart was kind and complimented him on his outfit.

Felix was as happy as could be, because when he wasn't curled up in his mom's grasp or on her shoulders, he was either buying every other thing they came across or being given treats by young women who found him cute.

Towards midday, the team went their separate ways, agreeing to meet up at the docks. Dausi took Zoe to a large bookshop that was filled to the roof with books on every subject one could think of.

So, for the next two hours, the team poured over countless books while Zoe napped and ate every pastry around. Each one was more fascinating than the last, especially with Eden reading them as he was quite a good storyteller.

When they were done reading, they went out again.

Adrien went to a perfume stall to get some for Marinette, while Zoe gagged at every smell and Dausi put one on that smelled like hydrangeas, while Adrien got a rose themed one for his bugaboo.

Throughout the rest of the day, Zoe went to flower stalls, fruit and pastry stalls, a dressmaker's shop to look at the beautiful gowns, finding a stunning white dress she liked, and she ate literally all the pastries.

"Wait, guys…where's Felix?" Zoe asked, suddenly noticing her son's absence.

"He's—" Adrien looked around and then his eyes widened. "Oh god, he's on that roof!"

Zoe looked up and her jaw dropped when she saw Felix up on the roof of one of the highest buildings. Before she could do anything, he jumped. Much to their surprise and relief, Felix _flew_ perfectly around them and then landed gracefully at their feet.

"Felix, you flew! This is wonderful," Zoe said, happily. "I'm so proud of you."

Felix looked quite proud of himself and held up a bag that read: Pixie dust

"Come on. Let's go get some dinner." Zoe said, even though she had just eaten.

They ate at the Rising Sun tavern. Everyone else shared some wine and a large fruit pie that was absolutely delicious while Zoe feasted on a large chicken and her own pie, trying to get her system regulated again so the bulge in her stomach would go away, still refusing to believe what her friends had suggested the day before.

No sooner had they finished their dinner, one of the village men cried out, "To the boats!" causing everyone to run off in different directions. And it was no wonder, for the sun was setting and it'd be time for the lanterns in a few moments.

The group of five sat on the dock, watching the beautiful lantern float through the sky like stars. Eli and Fireheart were on a boat in the distance.

"Wow…"

"It is beautiful." Zoe mused, "But we need to find the piece."

"You're right." Dausi said, "But did you seriously not find out where the piece was? It's in the crown, that gem. How else would it be able to locate Eli and only Eli?"

"That's right, shapeshifter." They turned and saw a fair woman behind them dressed in a long dark green robe. She had a slender yet muscular build, with brown eyes and thick eyebrows, full pink lips, and long, wavy, black hair.

"Who are you?" Eden asked.

"Nobody for you to worry about." The woman said. Zoe looked over the woman's shoulder and saw Eli being guided along by another young woman, this one with dark skin, red hair and what looked like black veins on the left side of her face.

"Eli!" The first woman shushed her.

"That is my sister, Melanie. I am Miracle. You see, there is always another version of mortals. Immortals do not, as they can travel. Because you two Worldbenders were born on a mortal world, that counted. This version of Eli can heal my sister of her illness, so he will stay tucked away forever, safe and sound. And the crown is with Princess Zoe, who I would assume is back home—conscious or not? I don't know." She chuckled darkly, brushing back a strand of curly hair behind her ear, "But we can't have you meddling. And in your condition, you're too tired to fight me."

Miracle threw her hand out and a wind picked up. It was almost as though the world went in slow motion as Zoe fell to her knees, then passed out.

"Sweet dreams."

OoOoO

A black stallion galloped down the shoreline, and the crew looked up to see Fireheart—attire and all, and not just being called that to avoid confusion—ride over to them, pausing at the sight of Zoe.

"What happened?"

"We don't know." Adrien answered, spring green eyes full of fear, "We keep calling her name and shaking her, but she won't open her eyes!"

"I even tried my powers…" Eden said. Felix had curled up with him unconscious mother, weeping and begging her to wake up and not be gone like Eli was.

Fireheart frowned, "Hm. Unresponsive sidekick." She smirked, "Blazze, give her a wash." She horse nodded and licked Zoe, who slowly woke up.

"Ew…"

"Mama!" Felix hugged her. Zoe hugged her son tight as Fireheart threw her the satchel.

"Got your boyfriend's soul. That bastard Fu told me after explaining shit. Then my father had him burned at the stake."

"Thank you." Dausi sighed in relief. "Do you need help, or should we go?"

"Eli's being locked in Melanie's tower!" Fireheart said, "I need to go save him, he's the one I've been looking for!"

"We'll help you." Eden replied, "Claudia, use your bloodlust to save Eli." Zoe nodded, summoning dark fire.

"Gladly."

OoOoO

Gabriel rubbed his head when he came out of his room the next morning,

"I feel like absolute ass and had a weird yet wonderful dream that I know you are to blame for Kelly."

Kelly chuckled, wearing sweat pants and shirtless, revealing his abs to all and making Gabriel very jealous and Kelly knew that.

"Why did you automatically assume I did something?"

"Because you are Zoe's father." Both Kelly and Harrison looked to each other, grinning widely,

"One word."

"Don't say it. Don't you dare." Natalie replied.

"Goldschläger."

Gabriel's eyes widened, "That wasn't a dream. I really had sex with Natalie and loved it."

"I removed the booze from your system when y'all started stripping. You were stone cold sober." Both Gabriel and Natalie were bright red, the former was hiding his face.

"Th-This is very inappropriate behavior! I work for him!"

"Just imagine the beautiful children you guys will have!" Harrison taunted, "Zoe's already pregnant, so this is gonna be fun."

"Wait, Zoe's pregnant?" Gabriel asked, "Isn't she sixteen?"

"Yeah. But when has Zoe ever followed the rules? She's at one month that is the equivalent of two."

Natalie's eyes widened, "Wait, I could be—?!"

"Yup." Kelly grinned, showing off white teeth, "We were gonna wait, but I want to say it. It's confirmed." Gabriel jerked up,

"C-CHILDREN?! Oh god! The press and fucking Nadja Chamack is gonna eat this up? Think about my reputation! What are we gonna do?!"

"People think Felix is Zoe's biological child." Emilie snapped playfully, coming in, "How's that for reputation. Shut up and marry her."

Natalie was bright red, matching the streak of her hair.

"Well hey," Kelly shrugged, "It's spring, the season of fertility. I already scheduled you a dinner at eight at Chloe's hotel in exchange for helping her get a date with Kagami."

"Do you just know everyone?" Gabriel asked incredulously, decided subtly to invite Natalie to cuddle with him on the couch. Kelly shrugged,

"Kind of. I follow the chain, meaning I can enter your mind and be able to find the mind of every person you have ever met, even for a few seconds. So I could kill someone without going anywhere near them. That trait is how I became President of the United States of America."

"Seriously?!" Everyone gaped at him.

"What? I needed resources to find a way back to the Quantic Universe or at least find my daughters. The job sucks, I do not recommend it. I may or may not have killed Kim Jong-Un and every person who could succeed him, and freed North Korea using my OP mind powers, uniting Korea as one."

"Is there anything you haven't done?" Natalie asked, "I feel like I'm in the presence of some sort of trickster god."

"There's a million things I haven't done." Kelly quoted, "But just you wait, just you wait."

"_Hamilton_?" Emilie asked.

"Naturally."

"The mention of the best musical ever has summoned me." Zoe came in through the door, holding a stunning crown that was glowing violet, "Just entered Tangled, and I am making Eli wear this thing." She tapped the gem and another glowing orb flew at Eli, and he sat up, but his eyes were still empty and lacking pupils. He didn't speak either.

Harrison threw his hands up, "Oh thank god! Maybe he can get down pudding without choking!" Emilie stood up,

"Zoe…I want to go with you." Zoe tensed.

"No offense Emilie…but I—"

"That's fine." Adrien said, "Felix, can you stay, that way we don't get overcrowded." Felix crossed his arms.

"Fine. Bring me back a souvenir!"

"I will, promise." Zoe kissed Eli lovingly and pecked her Dad on the cheek, "Love you, Dad." She jogged off.

Kelly pursed his lips in a thin line, "Pregnancy is well on it's way. I'd say week thirteen, meaning the start of the second trimester. Magical babies hate the first as much as the mother, so it should regulate now and not jump as much. But she is getting pretty big to have not noticed yet." He frowned, "Oh…that's actually sad…"

"What?" Harrison asked.

"The idea has been brought up, and she wouldn't mind, because she already graduated high school and could do an online college, but she doesn't want it to be true until Eli is okay. She doesn't want to be a mother without him."

"Oh…" Gabriel sighed, "Can we change the subject…that's actually depressing."

"How about how forced this feels." Natalie said, Kelly shook his head.

"It wasn't. Once I removed the breakup pain, all I had to do was plant ideas, it was all you to act on them, blame me all you want. Adrien is fine with it and honestly thought you two were screwing in the lair as supervillains." Cue a 'meep!' from both of them, and the red levels went past Ladybug's suit. He chuckled, "Oh, and since Amelia was using her Miraculous and being a superhero literally while she was in labor, I took both of them and gave the peacock to Emilie and the Butterfly shall be kept here to avoid a random witch coming."

Gabriel sighed, "This is going to be a long few weeks dealing with you Kelly Carpenter." Kelly just winked.

OoOoO

Molara sat quietly, holding the box her mother had given her. She knew what was in it. But she also didn't want to do her mother's bidding. Amelia had been her best friend—other than Morrigan, Amelia's twin—and they had kept in contact, even after Amelia and Kelly were cast out, Kelly half-dead.

She knew a fragment of the soul of her nephew was in there. She didn't want him to get hurt. She loved Amelia dearly.

"Canllaw ef ar ei ffordd adref." With those words, she made her choice, opening the box. The violet orb followed the magical trail and entered the body of the chosen vessel, Eli Sommers.

Molara smiled, tearing apart her home and smashing the box to pieces, before sending a distress call and knocking herself out with a vase.

OoOoO

Eli woke up and found himself on a beautiful island. The sky was pink and orange with the sunset in the distance.

He felt the water wash on his bare feet, noting he was wearing a white and baggy long-sleeved shirt, and black sweat pants.

"Hello? Where am I?" He looked around, before coming to rest on a tree that had grown sideways, so he could sit on it just above the ocean water.

"Hello, my son." he jumped upright and his eyes widened, walking off the tree to get a better look at the woman.

At twenty-three years of age, Amelia had a tall and slender build, violet eyes, rosy cheeks, thin pink lips, a small nose, long golden blonde hair, and very pale skin with a dusting of freckles—a trait she had given her son, though less prominently. She was wearing the same dress she had been buried in: a light magenta nightgown with lace details.

"M…Mom?" Amelia held her arms out, and Eli ran into his mother's embrace.

"Hello darling." Eli looked up.

"How can you be here…? Am I dead?"

Amelia sighed, "No. Your soul was shattered. But thanks to Molara, one of my many sisters, she got you a third, and woke you up. To be specific, she woke your mind up. If she hadn't…Zoe can't restored you. So you need to stay awake, no matter how tired you get."

"I don't understand…"

Amelia looked away, "How about I show you."

They weren't on the island anymore, but in Paris. It was still sunset, but they were on a grassy hill overlooking the city.

There, he saw his beautiful princess, weeping. She was heavy with child, looking like she could give birth at any second. She wore a black dress and she looked like a corpse, as though she hadn't slept in god knows how long.

"What is this?" He asked, going over to dry her tears, only for his hand to go straight through her.

"This is what will happen if you don't stay awake." Amelia said, pointing to the thing Zoe was crying over. Eli gasped, it was a tombstone.

His tombstone.

Eli Sommers

Beloved hero, friend, father, lover

Dearly missed

Eli jerked backwards, "Wait, what?!"

"If you go to sleep, the restoration of your soul will kill you." Amelia explained, "Zoe is expecting your child, and for her to go through all the trouble to save you and then watch you die drives her into severe depression."

Eli gaped. Zoe was pregnant?! He knew the exact moment it had happened, but he was still a little bit shocked. He wasn't against the idea, he was excited, but horrified he wasn't at his love's side during this.

He frowned as another man came behind his beloved. He was tall, probably a little taller than Eli himself, untamed shoulder length brown hair, sea-green eyes much like Eden's, and a very muscular build.

"Are you sure?" The man asked. Zoe turned, her eyes puffy and red, placing down a bouquet of roses at the foot on the grave. He helped her up, knowing she was too heavily pregnant to get up on her own, and she nodded,

"Yeah. Once I have the baby, we're leaving."

Eli turned to his mother, "Context?"

Amelia nodded, "That's Jared, wielder of the Bear Miraculous. He's from a post-apocalyptic world that Zoe shall be going to. After you died, the two of them have started getting close—like brother and sister, not lovers—and while Jared feared for her safety, Zoe wouldn't raise your child without you, and would give the child to Adrien and leave for Jared's world, because constant fighting would distract her."

Eli ran over to them, trying to get the other man's hands off his love, only to scream in frustration when his hands went through the much larger person.

"You won't succeed at that. And I will remind you that this is only one possible outcome, and that is if you fall asleep. If you stay awake…" The scene changed again, to Zoe—looking much happier—sewing a doll by the fireplace, while Felix was playing with two toddlers, a boy and a girl. Eli saw a slightly older version of himself sitting in an armchair, watching the children play.

Zoe had her once-again long hair tied up in a messy bun, and she was biting her lip as she finished the doll. With a swish of her hand, the doll glowed, and she gave it to the little girl, saying words, but the scene was mute. The little girl seemed to squeal with glee and clung to Zoe. The boy crossed his arms grumpily, until Zoe pulled created a butterfly with her powers, that flew around the room.

"This is the reality if you stay awake." Amelia said, "Living happily with your wife and children."

"I like this." Eli replied, "How do I stay awake?"

"The same as you would normally." They were back on the island, "You see, there are two versions of the afterlife: the one for the mind and the one for the soul. Your soul is shattered, and slowly being put back together, this is the afterlife for your mind, hence why I can be here, because that is considered your heaven. If you fall asleep here, you will be trapped here forever, like how Persephone couldn't eat anything in the Underworld when Hades kidnapped her. It will get easier as you get more soul, but it will be hard."

Eli nodded, "Will you stay?"

Amelia smiled warmly, and nodded.

**A/N: This chapter was mainly about Eli's situation. This concludes the Tangled World, and the reason you didn't see the ending is because it is anticlimactic: Zoe goes to the tower, uses demon power, frees Eli, happily ever after. Melanie is still alive though.**

**So there will be on average three chapters per world, meaning sometimes more and sometimes less, but usually three, don't hate me.**

**Jared is from _Of Other Worlds_, and will make an appearance in this story.**

**But remember to review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Okay, after the scene with Zoe at Eli's grave and Jared appearing, that is disproving Fireclaw, stop asking about it to me or anyone else.**

**This is one of the shorter worlds. Trust me, there will be some _long_ ones, especially as we get farther along.**

**There will be a reference to Animaestro, because that episode was fucking hilarious, and Gabriel literally sprinted out of the house at top speed and didn't break a sweat—which is really impressive.**

**Chapter 8: Heart to heart between Emilie and Dausi**

"Are you sure you want to come?" Zoe tried to dissuade Emilie from coming, "We swear and make a lot of dirty jokes."

Emilie frowned, "I can't change who you are, regardless of whether or not I like it."

"What if Adrien was gay?" Dausi asked. Emilie furrowed her brow, clearly deeply confused,

"Doesn't he have a girlfriend?"

"Yeah. But what if he became gay?"

"Why are we discussing this?" Adrien asked, "I'm not gay and never will be, Eden is a different story."

"To answer your question," Emilie said, "I don't care about that kind of thing, not sure about Gabriel."

"Good enough." Zoe bit her lip, "Is there anything I can do to dissuade you?"

"Nope. Why do you want rid of me so badly."

Eden flinched, "It's…complicated…"

"More complicated than _Kingdom Hearts_?" She asked playfully, "Challenge accepted."

Zoe turned, "You play?"

"Yup. Once _358/2 days_ came around, I opted against showing Adrien."

"Xion's suicide by tricking her best friend into killing her in self-defense?"

"Yup."

"That one hurt." Adrien said with a shudder.

"Agreed." Zoe smiled a little, relaxing just a tad. She grinned as the started entering the world, "Yay, I see land. So this is jungle…" it looked like a jungle from a distance, not a rainforest—there was a very fine line, but there was a difference.

"Doesn't look threatening." Adrien sighed in relief.

"Not yet." Felix said, "But it's also daylight." Everyone turned

"Felix?! What are you doing here?!" Zoe asked incredulously. Felix giggled,

"You didn't check the luggage compartment at all." He said. Everyone just collectively groaned.

They landed and once again hopped into the water, only this water was clear and clean—not recommended to drink, but wouldn't kill people.

"So we're looking for soul thing…" Emilie mused, "What's this?" She looked down. Eden stopped her

"Wait stop!" She touched it, "Oh. I thought it was TNT, its just pumpkin." Dausi turned and grinned,

"A sheep! Let's kill it!" Zoe let her do that, while Adrien pulled out his sword.

"I hear a chicken!" He ran off, tripping over the lace of his boot, then continuing his run, "I fill find you and slay you!" He found the chicken, and tried to hit it with his sword, "Why am i so bad at killing chickens? I will hunt you down and eat you!"

After ten minutes of angry swearing, he killed it, "Ha a got it! Chicken down!" He took the chicken and put it in a sack, finding Zoe using her powers to cut down a tree and climb another tree.

He turned and saw another chicken, using his cat instincts—that he just remembered that he had—and killed it. "Yeah! Got us another chicken!"

"Where are you?" he heard Dausi ask.

"I'm looking for you." They met up and made their way to the treehouse Zoe had made using her demon power.

Zoe came down, "You should get an axe."

Adrien held up his chickens, "I should get an axe, or you should _make_ me an axe."

She rolled her eyes, "Um, I'm busy right now... Call back during business hours. But you guys gotta come up here and see this."

They climbed up the rope latter as the sun went down and looked out the window to see a stone temple about a half mile away, surrounded in water.

"Do you think that's where it is?" Emilie asked.

"Maybe. Where's Felix?"

The little boy came running over, "Mama! Meet Cheeto!" They all turned and saw it was a baby ocelot. Zoe frowned deeply, but Felix have her puppy eyes,

"Can we keep him? I found him all alone! Look how hungry he is!" It was true, the creature was very thin, unhealthily so. Zoe sighed,

"Fine. But you are in charge of him."

"Okay!"

Her phone rang and her Dad was on the other side, "Hey dude! How's the quest?"

"Good. Adrien just went out to kill more chickens. Felix adopted a baby ocelot."

"SO CUTE!" He and Harrison both squealed, Kelly calmed, "You remember how to clean the chickens?"

"Of course."

Adrien dumped his findings on the floor, "I saw a pig, but the sun was set." He looked down the trapdoor, "I will get you on the morrow, pig." Cheeto dug into the bag and started eating one of the _many_ chickens as Adrien took some allergy medicine.

Harrison took the phone on the other side, "We're calling because another piece of his soul flew at him a minute ago." Eli smiled on the other side of the camera, weak, but a smile nonetheless.

Dausi took Cheeto, turned on the Gummi ship, flew back to the mansion, dropped off the tiny cat, and came back.

…

Kelly looked at the small cat, and grinned at it. Until Cheeto sat on Gabriel's lap,

"Really?"

"Er…bad cat?" Cheeto licked Gabriel's face…then ate his bacon, running to Eli and curling up in his lap. Harrison burst out laughing. Natalie giggled a little,

"I hope Eli isn't allergic to cats."

"He's not allergic to cats. Only dogs and macadamia nuts."

"Oh thank god." Kelly sighed in relief, throwing on his messenger bag and a jacket with his black jeans and blue sweatshirt, "I'm gonna go get pet supplies. Be back in an hour."

OoOoO

"Okay…" Dausi mused the next morning, "Are we going to the temple? Or not. Because it could be like the hell fortress."

"We're going." Zoe said, "That's final—Felix what are you doing?!" Felix was playing with a baby Tasmanian devil.

"Can we keep him? Mama, it's just a baby. I want to call him Oreo!"

Zoe sighed, looking at the little creature giving her puppy eyes, "Fine. But no more!" Dausi just picked up Oreo and dropped him off at the mansion.

"It seems the animals have taken a liking to scaring the shit out of Gabriel." She informed, "Because Oreo took to biting his leg, and if he could walk, he would have run out of the house faster than he did during the Animaestro incident."

Emilie turned, "What?"

_Fireheart clapped Chat Noir on the back. They had to get back to their movie. After days of work on voice acting—because Zoe always went missing in search of food, claiming to be trying to get "in character"—the movie was complete. In hindsight, Zoe would later find her suggestion to use Eli as Mockingjay, and Evelyn/Eden as Tigris truly hilarious. _

_The movie was originally _Ladybug and Chat Noir_, but then it was changed to simply _Miraculous_ at Zoe's suggestion, because there were many other superheroes. She even went in as Fireheart and revealed her strange, fucked up relationship with Hawk Moth of "Maybe you're not the worst thing ever" which the developers ate up at the idea of two enemies getting drunk together with no fucks whatsoever._

_Fireheart went to detransform in a dark alleyway, when she saw Gabriel standing there, looking very annoyed._

_"Gabe?" She detransformed, "You okay?"_

_"I just ran two miles to try and stop you assholes from defeating my akuma. How do you think I'm doing?"_

_"And you didn't even break a sweat." She mused, "Wouldn't expect you to be the type to work out." Gabriel lifted up his shirt to reveal a faint six-pack, which definitely caught Zoe off-guard._

_"I may like staying inside, Emilie did not. How else would we have gotten into the mess of the Miraculous is I refused to take a hike in Tibet? Just because I told her a story my grandmother used to tell me, and then she went missing while looking, Emilie got fascinated and made me get into shape so we could go on the adventure too. Mistakes were made, men were lost." He groaned as they walked through the street like proper guardian-ward-archenemy-besties._

_"He who hopes give himself the opportunity to obtain what he desires. But he who fears, always ends up with the very thing he dreads." He turned and she smiled. "Kagami's Mom said it once. It fits though. Fear leads to obsession with power, and obsession beckons the dark side."_

_"Now you're just quoting what Yoda said to Anakin."_

_"So now I'm telling you not to be afraid lest you become Darth Hawky. Come on Gabe," She said cheerfully, "Kagami can only handle being alone with jealous Marinette and Chloe for who knows how long."_

_"Aren't Adrien and Marinette dating?"_

_"That's the irony of it. Because Kagami went to London with us, Chloe and Marinette see her as a threat to Adrien's virtue, and as such want to kill her. How else would you have gotten your akuma?"_

_"I suppose you're right." Gabriel rolled his eyes, "I really hate people, wanna stop at the bakery and get a croissant or something from behind the counter while the owners are gone?"  
_

_And so they did, both leaving a generous payment as an apology for jumping through Marinette's skylight to break in—but that thing really did need a lock on it, so the fault was really not that of the burglar but the home owner._

Emilie frowned, "Wow. Just…wow."

"I know." Zoe laughed, "We are both assholes, if we were on the same side of the war, we could be good friends."

Eden rolled her eyes, looking at Felix, who was playing with a baby tiger while the mother tiger debated having the child as a snack. She transformed and began talking in tiger language. The mother tiger literally sighed in exasperation, picked up Felix, and used her claws to climb the tree into the treehouse.

"She says we can't steal her baby, but she will watch Felix and not eat him." Eden said bitterly.

Dausi shrugged, "So are we gonna go in, swords blazing, screaming blood and thunder?"

"Naturally."

Eden frowned, "I would think we should make a plan."

Adrien shuddered, "Whenever we make a plan, we fail horribly. Remember the Heroes' Day." Zoe winced at that.

"Blood and thunder."

OoOoO

The temple was easy to get to…but full of wildlife.

"AHHHHHHH!" Chat Noir shrieked as a monkey bit his leg. He swatted the creature off.

Tenshi was in a foul mood, "RAGH! EVERYTHING MUST DIE!"

Paon kicked a leopard in the face, and then looked at all the bloodshed that had occurred in horror. Eden was still raging,

"EVERYTHING SUCKS! WHY MUST EVERYTHING BE TRYING TO KILL US!? WE JUST WANT TO SAVE THE FATHER OF MY SISTER'S BABY!" She started sobbing. Zoe decided to ignore the idea of her being pregnant, because she was _not_. Emilie walked over calmly to her,

"Dear…have you started?" Zoe's eyes widened and Adrien just gaped. Eden cocked her head,

"Started?" Zoe frowned,

"Sis…do you really have no idea what Emilie is talking about?"

Emilie crossed her arms, "How old are you again?"

"Fifteen. Why?"

"Your period." Adrien clarified, embracing the idea of death at the hands of a Worldbender. Because when Zoe got her powers, she almost immediately got pregnant, so her period wasn't gonna happen for a while. Eden had her powers, and it clearly just happened.

"WHAT?!" She shrieked, "No! I have never had my period!" Emilie bit her lip.

"You sure? Because sometimes girls get a little…dramatic."

"I haven't gotten my period at fifteen, and I never will. I'm barren, and since I am a lesbian, I am perfectly fine with that."

"You have to at some point." Emilie explained, "Or else you might have to go to the doctor and they'll have to…check what's going on down there."

"Sis, your pants are red." Zoe said, throwing her a pair of black yoga pants instead of the white jeans.

"Nope." Eden said as she changed, "I'm denying it."

"It's natural." Zoe responded, "I got mine at age eleven on a school camping trip in the middle of fuck fuck nowhere." Adrien laughed,

"You mean Camp Cispus, where the buses were three hours late and you had packed a MiFi, so you called an Uber?"

"That's the one."

"UGH! YOU ALL SUCK! JUST LET ME LIVE IN MY OBLIVIOUSNESS! WHAT HAVE I EVER DONE TO YOU?!" She stomped off as Adrien stared making a cross symbol on his chest, praying to go to heaven when Eden killed him.

Everyone sat in silence, until Zoe turned to Adrien, "You when I explained sex."

"Yup." Emilie raised an eyebrow,

"What? You were the one to tell him?

"Correct. It was very awkward." And so they got into a conversation that had Adrien dying inside as Zoe explained how he almost lost his virtue at a park, and the Sleeping Beauty curse. Adrien wasn't sure whether to be embarrassed or relieved his mother was taking it so well with how over-protective she was when he was younger.

"What are the baby names?"

"Emma, Hugo and Louis." Zoe said with a smirk in Adrien's direction. Emilie grinned,

"On a scale of 1 to 10, how oblivious was Adrien to her feelings?"

"3.141592653589793238462643383279502884197169399375105820974944592307816406286208998628034825342117067982148086513282306647093844609550582231725359408128481117450284102701938521105559644622948954930381964428810975665933446128475 648233786783165271201909145648 5669234603486104543266482…."

Ten minutes later

"And that's the first ten thousand digits in pi." Zoe said, "That's how oblivious he was."

"Damn." Was all Emilie said in response.

"ASSHOLES!" They heard Eden shout from the next room, "I SEE A DOOR THAT REQUIRES A FLAT KEY!"

Zoe frowned, and saw a loose section of stone on the ceiling. She floated up and found herself in another room with a sword in a stone.

Only those with pure intentions can pull me from the stone.

Zoe glared at it, and ripped the thing out of the stone. Saving the love of her life was pure enough.

She spun it playfully, "Nice balance. I'm gonna call it Excalibur."

Dausi came back, "Hey guys. The peacocks won't bother us now that I spoke to them." They walked into the other room where Eden was pointing at the keyhole.

"Fucking finally. Insert!"

She inserted the sword into the lock and the door, where the little black box was. Zoe opened it, and a violet orb flew out.

"Hey! Long time no see! Shit! Can't talk bye!" Eli's voice said cheerfully, then the orb dimmed. They all turned and saw the mother tiger was there, holding Felix and her own cub. She put Felix down and started grooming him, much to the small child's delight.

Eden looked to the tiger, "I'm going to call you Patience." Patience just rolled her eyes and gestured in a very human-like fashion that Felix was clean. Zoe picked him up,

"Thanks Patience. Let's go back to the mansion!"

OoOoO

They went back to the mansion, and the piece flew at Eli, who grinned, "Hi!" Zoe kissed him in relief,

"Every second I spend with you, alive, brings me more hope and determination." Eli still didn't have pupils, and he cocked his head in confusion, causing Zoe to sigh, "You don't have your memory back. That's fine. Not like it will be very long now." She turned to her Dad, "D-Do you think he'll have his memory back when we get all the pieces?" Kelly nodded,

"Yeah. But maybe we should talk to Mara to be sure."

They went into Mara's void, and Zoe lifted the bitch up by the back of her neck.

"Will Eli keep his memory when we get all the pieces." Mara looked at her through half-lidded eyes.

"He might forget obscure things like the name of his kindergarten teacher, but nothing important. Assuming you get all the pieces before he dies."

"WHAT?!" Both Zoe and Kelly roared. Mara smirked, though it was debatable how lucid she was.

"In two months time—originally three but you wasted ten days mourning, so it's more like two and a half—a blue moon will appear, and with that moon, all lost or shattered souls move on to Avalon, and the vessel of the body dies. Get all the pieces, and he will be fine, if now, he will perish." Zoe's eyes widened, dropped Mara, and sprinted out of the void, grabbing Adrien, Dausi, Eden and Emilie and throwing them in the Gummi ship.

"We only have 71 days and 10 hours left to save Eli! WE NEED TO GO!"

"Relax." Emilie tried, "We already have four, really fast. We will make the time and still have more to spare."

"Shut up!" They were in the lanes between, and everyone was too scared to talk, while Eden was in desperate need of girl supplies. Emilie was again the one brave enough to speak,

"Um…maybe we should take a pit stop to get supplies for Eden." Zoe whirled around, throwing a pad at Eden—who gratefully used it—and got up in Emilie's face, baring her teeth.

"Well excuse me!" She snapped, "Let's go on a leisure trip! No! We are trying to save Eli here, not go on vacation!" While everyone else knew Emilie saying anything would end horribly, the woman in question did not.

"Don't you take that tone with me, young lady!" Emilie realized her error when she grabbed Zoe's wrist to try and get her to calm down, only for Zoe to shriek in…fear…and send her flying backwards into the back of the ship.

Zoe curled into a ball, crying in the drivers' seat. When Emilie had grabbed her wrist, she had seen her mother.

_"I wish I had aborted you when I had the chance! But nooooo, your stupid father wanted you to have a chance! You are nothing but a freak!"_

Emilie wasn't hurt, more startled, and when she saw Adrien's expression that said "I tried to warn you" she realized there was more to the story. She needed to calm the girl down, otherwise she would never get on the right footing with Zoe again. She put a hand on Zoe's shoulder, noticing how the young mother tensed and looked ready to fight, her eyes bloodshot.

"Hey…" she tried to be calm, but she knew the pain in those eyes. She didn't know where it had come from, but it was there. "I know it's hard for you…all of this pressure. But taking it out on us is not how to handle that."

"Mom," Adrien warned, "you got her riled up, she copes by murder!" She turned to her son, sending him a dirty look, then back at Zoe,

"Have you ever had a mother in your life?" Zoe was taken aback by the question. She nodded, then shook her head. She knew Zoe had been abused by her mother, she just didn't know how much so, and from the way Zoe behaved, it wasn't like that of a girl who had been abused as truly awfully as Zoe had been. But she only responded from it coming from older women. Emilie sighed, and realized she had crossed a line. Zoe couldn't get away with attitude like that, but she had to tread lightly to avoid breaking the girl.

"You need a proper mother in your life. I know you don't trust me in that sense, but I want to help you." She had talked to Sabine, and she knew from the baker that Zoe didn't trust any female old enough to be her mother, which was a mannerism that was easy to miss, but when she's living with you and literally shrieks when you get too close, it's easy to realize.

Zoe had turned back to driving, putting headphones in and humming along, while Dausi sighed, standing up.

"Mrs. Agreste…I know you want to help her, but trying to fill in that gap is very thin ice. Maeve was a vile woman, broke her many times. Kelly always unknowingly picked up the pieces, and then that role fell to Adrien and later Eli. When Eli…the pieces fell apart again."

Emilie looked back to Zoe—they were in the back room of the ship so they could talk in private.

"But that doesn't mean she should keep living without a mother. Especially being pregnant herself, she needs that. Or else she's going to hurt the baby by stressing about Eli too much."

"She loves hard." Dausi explained, "Her heart is like glass. Most people think it's easy to break, but really you need to hit hard, or in just the right spot. Then she crumbles." Emilie sighed,

"For now, I just have to make sure she trusts me. I don't want our relationship to be one of mistrust because I crossed a line."

"I was created to hurt her." Emilie turned to the shapeshifter, "That is what created me. My purpose. I tormented her for years, before I learned how to be human. But in all that time, I have never seen her like this. She blames herself more than anything for what happened, but she also partially blames you. She won't trust you until you understand there is more to it than you being an older woman."

"Me? I was in a coma, what did I do? None of this is her fault either!"

"Think about it," Dausi said, "back to the roots. You wanted to go look for the Miraculouses for a reason Zoe does not truly know, then you fell into a coma which spurred Gabriel to become a supervillain to save you, thus bringing her to this world, which turned Adrien against Gabriel, which lead to Mara being summoned and then Eli's condition." Emilie gawked, and Dausi continued,

"Nobody can hate you more than you hate yourself. Truth. You cannot love someone until you love yourself. Bullshit. Zoe has never loved herself, regardless of the facade she puts up around others."

"Why was Maeve so terrible?" Emilie asked. Dausi frowned,

"I don't know." She responded, "One minute she is the most loving mother you could find, the next she hates Zoe's guts. She used to adore Zoe's powers, and did her best to help with control, then she keeps calling Zoe a freak of nature. I've been trying to figure it out for years now." She sighed, "Zoe is scared you will be the same, because she knows Kelly has feelings for you. You need to win her over by giving her space, maybe take a break from world travel."

"That's why she was so against me coming…"

"Yup. Zoe values freedom over anything else, even over food and killing Barbies, so she also hates that you locked Adrien in the house for most of his life."

"But I did that because he was the only child, even though he was very premature, to not be a miscarriage!"

"True. But only you, Kelly and Gabriel know that." Dausi started pacing, "Eli was the first person to see every side of her and not be afraid, seeing it in more than a platonic way. Others want her for her beauty, wealth, or the fact she is vulnerable. Losing him was like losing a part of herself."

"So the only way to gain her trust is to avoid confrontation and give her the freedom to save Eli?"

"Or do what Sabine did and treat her as a friend and not as a daughter, which you were doing a good job of in the jungle. But yeah. She really is a nice girl, but the abuse caused her to become clinically psychotic, though it only shows sometimes. Someone who can see past that will get another layer. I cheated in my existence to know them all. When she gets defensive, she hurts people—something Gabriel knows all too well. But if you earn her trust, you won't find a better friend."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because Zoe has gotten hurt too many times in her young life and I can't bear to see it happen again." Emilie nodded,

"I don't want to hurt her. I can only hope that she'll let me in one day."

"Warning, she doesn't talk to cope." Dausi warned, "It ends badly most times. But if you get her to talk, she will."

"I'll try my best. You can count on me." She stood up with newfound determination, only for Adrien to open the door,

"Hey. We're here."

**A/N: So the next world will be one of the longer ones. Review to guess what the world will be. **


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: EmBrAcE tHe MiNi GaMeS**

Zoe looked around the coral reef they were in. More specifically, the mermaid tails she and her friends had.

It wasn't like her purple tail, which she now assumed was her Heartless form, it was a fiery one-piece red-orange-gold. Her hair was flowing around her. Eden's tail was the same white with pink details one-piece. Emilie's was pink with a black seashell bra. Adrien was shirtless with a dark-green tail. Dausi's tail was turquoise with a purple seashell bra.

"Damn." Zoe tried to ignore the district bump that could be seen. She was magically at the equivalent of eighteen weeks, while a normal pregnancy would be week four.

Emilie gasped, "You girls are breathtaking! And you look so handsome, Adrien!"

"Thanks…" Zoe felt sheepish, trying to cover herself. Her bare arms and back were covered in scars, and she felt subconscious of her stomach.

"Sis, you uncomfortable?" Adrien asked, and Zoe nodded a little.

"Hello?" They all turned and Zoe spun Excalibur threateningly, and frowned when she saw another mermaid.

She was a young girl with light skin, and bright blue eyes. Her hair was long, wavy, and blonde. It reached her mid-back, and she had some of her hair pulled back into a ponytail with a knot. The end of her hair was styled with heavy ringlets. Her top was hot pink with dark flowers and roses detailing, and her tail was also pink, it was scaly and had flowers detailing. She wore two flower armlets and two necklaces—a butterfly necklace and a blue pearl necklace.

"Who are you?" The girl asked. She didn't sound afraid. She sounded curious. "I'm Nori!"

"I'm…." Zoe frowned, "Fireheart."

"Lady Fireheart." Nori grinned, "You're the noble family we've been waiting for!" She swam over enthusiastically, "The swordsmanship, the powers, the scars!"

"Excuse me," Emilie said warmly, "Where are we exactly?" Nori looked up,

"Kingdom of Seagundia." Nori responded, "Aren't you here for the festivals?"

"Um…yeah…" Adrien said, "We just wanted to make sure we were in the right place."

Nori looked Zoe over again, "So you are Prince Connor's bride-to-be?"

"OH GOD NO!" Zoe shrieked, looking down at her stomach, deciding to take advantage of what Adrien and Eden had been insisted, "I'm taken and with child. That honor goes to my sister, Dausi." This was the only way they could get info, and Dausi had mentioned being jealous of what Zoe and Eli had. This worked.

"Excellent!" Nori grinned, taking Dausi's hands, "Come on! The people are waiting!"

While a magical and underwater kingdom, Seagundia appeared to be quite flourishing and modern, with a big capital with huge buildings and very active businesses that could been seen. Most of the colors were blue, pink and purple and various shades, but it was still beautiful.

They made it to the castle where there were two people, one male and the other female.

The male was young and quite attractive, judging by the silver crown on his head, Zoe assumed he was Prince Connor. He had light skin, blue eyes and short gold-brown hair. His tail was sky-blue, matching his eyes.

The woman, Queen Cora from what Nori had said, was a beautiful middle-aged mermaid with a blue and white tail. She had long ginger hair with light blue highlights, big purple eyes, fair skin and red lips.

Connor swam up to Dausi, drinking in her features like a man who had been deprived of water even though he was the prince in the fucking ocean. He spoke, kissing her hand first.

"Lady Dausi," his voice was surprisingly smooth, like rich velvet, "You are fairer than they said." Zoe found herself wondering if them being here had altered something, or may be the fish people didn't know what a background check was.

Zoe swam up, separating the duo as Dausi was all for the attractive merman, "Um…we're all for this, but I need your help."

"Sure. What is this help you require?"

"My fiancé…the father of my child," she had no idea how true those statements were, "A witch shattered his soul and scattered the pieces. I've been told here is one in this kingdom. I only have seventy days before he dies. Do you have any idea where the piece might be?" Connor nodded to himself a little,

"Probably with the Sea Witch in the dark end of the kingdom, or at least she would know where." Cora swam up, and her voice was all snobby-like, like a man doing a bad impression of a woman,

"You have seventy days, and the festivities are only fourteen! Stay. Your sister is getting married! You are not missing it!"

"But I have to—"

"I will hear none of it." Zoe pulled out Excalibur and held it to the queen's throat, millimeters away from slitting her throat. A droplet of blood fell down her porcelain skin.

"Bitch, move, or I will cut you." Cora gasped in astonishment,

"How dare you?! Guards!" The guards didn't even make it in, as with a snap of Zoe's fingers, their necks snapped…or so the royals though as they were actually teleported back to their houses safe and sound and the dead bodies going up into flames was in illusion.

For some reason, Cora softened, "Is this about the secret father for your child?"

"Secret? No. Father? Yes." Cora laughed,

"Of course! This all makes sense now. Have dinner with us, sweetheart. You're a fool in love, a pregnant fool in love. Come along now, he can wait."

"But he really ca—"

"We also need to plan a musical extravaganza for the wedding."

And then Adrien had a stroke.

"Finny Fun…" Adrien breathed, "FINNY FUN! NO PLEASE!"

Context here. In _Kingdom Hearts 2_, the world based off _the Little Mermaid_ was a musical world, and all of the songs were mini-games and the original ones were really fucking bad. All fans of the game now refer to that world as infamous, and the birth of people drinking bleach. The first song was called "Finny Fun," and is always what people think of first as the phrase is said multiple times.

So to say the least, a mermaid world involving a musical would drive Adrien over the edge, especially since he was one of those who reached for the bleach. Whoever talked Nomura (director) out of making the _Frozen_ world like that deserved a generous raise and promotion.

Emilie held her son as his system decided to shut down at the idea of Finny Fun. Eden huffed and healed him, but left him unconscious so he was brought to a guest room and didn't have to suffer.

Cora frowned, then looked to Zoe, "You are staying whether you like it or not. If you need the permission of the boy's Daddy, just use your little snap trick." Conner sent an apologetic look to them all,

"Sorry about her." He said meekly, "Ever since father died, she hasn't been all here." Cora didn't even seem to hear him. Zoe sucked in a breath, then her eyes looked dead. Terrifyingly calm, she said,

"Okay. I will stay."

Cora nodded her approval and swam off happily, but everyone else took her nightmarishly calm tone as the killing calm Eden had mentioned Zoe would go into when she was plotting to kill someone or make their life a living hell.

Nori just simply guided the women along to the rehearsal dinner, because Zoe was quite literally vibrating with rage.

Unless Cora let her go save Eli, this wedding was going to be one of tragedy and not one of celebration.

OoOoO

The dinner was more tense than the 2016 Presidential Election.

Eden was relieved Zoe hit the killing calm, because that meant she would be decent for a few hours before the bloodshed started. Cora was off getting Dausi's wedding dress ready, while Connor and Dausi were getting to know each other.

Everyone could agree that Connor was lovely. Apparently after his father died and his mother went nuts, he became Regent King. The reason for the arranged marriage was because his mother insisted he find love, but wanted to approve of the woman.

"I am truly sorry about my mother, Zoe." Connor said. He had learned her real name by a slip of the tongue from Emilie. He was fine with it. Zoe had been picking at her food, wanting to eat, but at the same time too pissed to keep anything down—not to mention she hated eating salmon and it made her sick. She just pursed her lips, continuing to pick at the food.

"I need to get away, ASAP." She sighed, tears spilling down her cheeks, "Like when Eli and I snuck out of parties."

"You really love him." Connor responded with a tight smile. Zoe nodded,

"With all my heart. And as long as your bitch of a mother doesn't show, I can sneak out."

Speak of the devil, Cora swam in. "You're not going anywhere."

"Sweet baby Jesus, don't sneak up on people like that!" Zoe shrieked, jumping backwards in her seat. Dausi smiled to Cora,

"Highness, my sister is extremely unstable, and denying her will end in tragedy for everyone." Cora crossed her arms and Zoe was wondering whether the queen was stubborn or retarded, or both—an awful combination.

She glared at Zoe, "Someone needs to teach you manners! And as your future mother-in-law, I am gonna do it." Normally, she would have a snarky response, but the word 'mother' was echoing in her head.

"NO!" She smacked Cora with a goblet and tried to swim away, only for the queen to grab her tail,

"No getting away now."

"BITCH NO! THIS WAS A MISTAKE!"

"Are you jealous of your sister?"

"Nope. I made a deal with the sea witch and am now a danger to you all."

"Liar." Damnit. "Look at you, going on and on about that boy. He. Can. Wait. So sit your pregnant ass down and have dinner with your family! Actually, I need help collecting the fallen seashells. They keep falling of the ledges. Collect at least twenty-five and make sure none break, and I won't punish you for being disrespectful."

Zoe huffed, and snapped the woman's wrist, but did do so, by doing the fucking mini-game, and then poisoning the Queen's food.

Cora didn't eat the food. Shit.

Cue three more hours of fucking mini-games. Adrien had literally poisoned himself to not go near Finny Fun. How that boy wasn't dead was a mystery beyond the greatest minds.

Zoe was pissed because Cora was trying to be like a mother.

"I understand you have a lot on your young shoulders. At least stay until the wedding is over tomorrow night. Get your mind off things. I won't stop you after that." Zoe was sobbing,

"P-Please…I can't take the chance of losing him. One day may be the only thing to determine if he lives or dies."

"One day out of seventy will not do anything." Cora insisted, "Talk to me."

"That's not how she copes." Emilie warned. Cora swatted her away,

"I know it's hard." The queen said, "Just don't be yourself for the wedding."

Zoe chuckled, remembering last time someone had said that to her.

_While being voice actors for the Miraculous Movie, Adrien had to pretend to be learning the character. Zoe did not, because she did not give enough fucks. Gabriel managed to not struggle playing Hawk Moth—because Zoe had gotten him a little bit out of his shell, and the writers took full advantage of that—so only Eden knew the movie had all of the canon voices, counting Eli as Mockingjay. _

_The movie was about the Heroes' Day, adding in Mockingjay and Tigris._

_Most everyone stuck with the script, but Zoe remembered via her photographic memory what was said, and said that. Eli and Zoe did improvising as their superhero counterparts, and Astruc loved how accurate it was._

_"Zoe is so convincing and natural," Astruc said to Gabriel, "it's as if she isn't even _acting_ at all. She is really talented!"_

_Gabriel sighed, looking at Zoe, leaning back in her chair with her feet on the table, eating a donut. "I want nothing more than for her not to be." Astruc left and he walked into the room with her, "Zoe! Stop acting like yourself!" Zoe flipped him off._

_Now, she had been sassier than usual to him—because they could say they were getting into character by giving each other shit. Adrien was just making out with Marinette and only Gabriel noticed Eli was like a lovesick schoolgirl when around Zoe._

_"__I swear to god Zoe." Gabriel crossed his arms, "I will bring Reverser back, just to make you be polite to me for once!" he was relieved to be able to openly threaten her, and people thought they were just rehearsing._

_"__Fuck off." Zoe rolled her eyes, "I'd just beat him again._

She sighed.

Adrien was resting on his bed, "Can we postpone the wedding?"

"No! The wedding has been planned for over a year!" Zoe just started bawling as pregnancy hormones kicked in. Cora looked down at her, "That trick may work on others, but I know a girl in need of a party to get her mind off of things. All that stress is bad for the baby. Let yourself have fun. The boy will be alive tomorrow."

Zoe narrowed her eyes. _Just wait for her to let her guard down…_

OoOoO

Zoe hadn't slept.

Adrien had been the one to style her up and do her makeup, because being a model had its perks for him. But then Cora came in,

"You look awful. And so, I will take it upon myself to get you ready. Boy, go help your mother." Adrien frowned, but did swim away. Cora started brushing Zoe's hair, "Sassy lass you are. What are you hiding? People compensate with rage when trying to hide a gaping emotional wound."

Zoe turned to face the Queen, her voice dripping with bitterness and sarcasm, "Suddenly you got smart?"

"I am a queen! I am plenty smart!"

"And I'm Beyonce." At Cora's expression of confusion, she clarified, "I'm calling you a dumbass for not letting me leave. People die when I get mad."

"Merfolk get beheaded when I get mad!" Zoe got up from her seat to meet the merwoman's gaze,

"Then we can agree. And the only reason I haven't killed everyone is because your son is willing to help me."

"Daughter-in-law or not, I will have you in the dungeons!"

Emilie came in, "Highness, are you threatening my stepdaughter?! If there is a problem, you talk to me." Zoe flinched at the word 'stepdaughter' but left things play out. Cora swam over,

"There is indeed a problem! Your stepdaughter needs to learn some respect and manners! What she needs is to relax and forget about the boy for a little while! And she dares to try and defy me!"

Emilie sucked in a breath, "The boy is dying. My stepdaughter is a very…erratic and unpredictable girl. But she is very kind when she wants to be."

"If she is kind then she should know she has to stay for her own sister's wedding! Unless her jealously won't let her watch—" Emilie put a finger to her lips, and Zoe was dumbfounded,

"Jealousy isn't in her vocabulary. She has a love of her own—that she is desperate to save—and blames herself for what happened even though it was of no fault of hers. If you want to demand she stay, fine. But if he dies, I will not stop Zoe from killing everyone in this kingdom." Cora knew she was stepping into protective mother territory if she went any further, so she relented,

"She stays for the wedding, but not the two week celebrations." Emilie nodded,

"Good enough. Right Zoe?"

Zoe shrugged, still stunned into silence.

…

"Didn't think I'd be getting married." Dausi said as she shape-shifted to put her hair into a braided bun and apply natural makeup. Eden shrugged,

"Connor is really nice. Then we will kidnap him to join our quest." Adrien came in,

"Mom is now super protective of Zoe. What did you do, Dausi?" Dausi shrugged as she slipped on the white wedding gown and the diadem with lapis,

"Gave her some backstory. Not much."

Adrien chuckled, "I didn't think white would work on you. You do look great."

"Connor is really nice, but I wish I had more of a choice in this life-changing decision."

"We could always kill him." Eden said nonchalantly, still PMS'ing.

"No." Dausi sighed, "I am not against marrying him. He just doesn't know what I am or the devastating things I've done." Adrien laughed,

"So we tell him when we kidnap him! If he still loves you, we keep him around. If he's a dick, we kill him."

Zoe swam in, "I'm gonna kill the Queen. I don't want to wear gold!" It was a nice dress.

Eden laughed, "Sucks to be you!"

"I will buy you tampons if you shut up." Eden shut up. Zoe rolled her eyes, "Wedding, here we come."

"Is someone gonna die?" Dausi asked.

"Yes."

"Please just not my fiancé."

"Okay." She took Dausi's arm, as she was the one giving her former-inner-demon away, "Time for you to get married."

**A/N: Yeah. That's happening. Cora is annoying, that's her purpose.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: The Depths of Despair**

The wedding went without a hitch. Dausi and Connor were dancing happily while Zoe sat in the corner, covering her stomach. She really did look pregnant. But there was no way she actually was! She had two rounds of sex _ever_, the same night, there was no way.

"You seem bitter." Adrien said.

"I'm not bitter." She replied bitterly with a bitter tone. "Just wait until I handle Cora."

"I'm not waiting." Adrien responded, "Because it's gonna happen by the end of the day."

Emilie shrugged, "At least Dausi and Connor are having fun."

…

Connor noticed the look of stress on his bride's face, and cupped her cheek,

"You okay? Is something wrong?" Dausi blushed,

"Well I'll have you know getting married is perfect reason to be nervous." Connor nodded, spinning her as they still danced,

"True. I was dead terrified. I was worried you'd be some stuck up bitch." That got a laugh from his wife,

"Stuck up? No. Bitch? Yeah." She looked up with big eyes, "Connor, can you please help us on our quest? Knowing Zoe, she will run into a whirlpool." He chuckled,

"Sure. And my mother isn't a woman of her word, so she will make Zoe stay. You need someone who knows these waters." _Beautiful wife asking me to spend time away from my mother? YES!_ "As you wish, my Queen. Polexia!"

Zoe came over, "Wasn't that Anna Paquin's name in _Almost Famous_?"

"I think so." Eden responded. Connor had no idea what that was, but decided not to question it.

Another mermaid came over. She seemed to be of Australian ethnicity, with a tan complexion. She had long brown hair and hazel eyes, wearing her hair braided, with purple bands. She wore a purple bodice with a strap on her left shoulder, and a violet flower on the right. Her violet-and-pink tail had a flower identical to the one on her bodice, but on the left side of her waist.

"Yes sire?"

"I need you to distract my mother."

"Of course." She swam off and Connor took Dausi's hand and the others followed him down the corridor and out of the castle.

"Come on. The Sea Witch is this way."

OoOoO

"This way. You said." Zoe said impatiently, "It's been two hours."

"Yeah. I said the direction, not that it would be five minutes. But we are almost there." Zoe transformed and Connor jumped back in alarm as she embraced her dark form.

"Don't be scared. This is just a power up." She swam inside and frowned at the merwoman calmly cooking something.

The Sea Witch had pale skin and feathery black hair. She had an heart shaped face and her facial features were thin. She wore dark colors such as brown, red, blue, black and burgundy, and her tail was raven. She wasn't devastatingly beautiful as Zoe had imagined a Sea Witch would be, but that just make her all the more intimidating. Not that anything really intimidated her, she just knew from the expressions of her comrades that it was that way.

"Are you the Sea Witch?" Rhetorical, but answered nonetheless,

"Yes, if you could call me that. I am Maescia." She raised her gaze to reveal ebony eyes sparked with malice and curiosity.

Heartless crossed her arms, "Do you know where a lost soul fragment would go?"

"Yes." Maescia responded, "And I'd be more than happy to tell you. On one condition." When Heartless gestured for her to continue, she did, "There is a rare flower I want. It only grows at the bottom of the Depths of Despair. Bring it to me, and I will tell you."

"Nobody gets out of the Depths of Despair alive!" Connor shrieked.

"What does the flower do?" Tenshi asked.

"It grants eternal health. My…friend…is in need of it." Heartless bit her lip.

"I'll do it."

Maescia brightened, "Excellent! Prince Connor will know where to go."

They left the cave and Connor just tore at his hair,

"You guys seem like the type to do the impossible. So let's go. But don't blame me if y'all get killed. Onward!"

During the swim, Zoe decided to ask some questions,

"So what is so dangerous down there?"

"Nobody knows." He responded, "Nobody comes out alive. Their body is always found a week later though. Starved and suffocated, with marks around the tail, almost like they were tightly tied up."

"Well let's go kill some bitches!" Eden yelled, "Nobody messes with a Carpenter girl on her period!"

Emilie just sighed.

OoOoO

The Depths of Despair, it turned out, was a pit full of vines.

Adrien looked down, "That looks menacing. And due to my bad luck curse, I am not gonna go down there. I will be look out."

"Okay then." Eden dove inside, followed by everyone else. "This isn't so bad." It really wasn't. With Eden creating a light orb, there was nothing intimidating. "Maybe the deadly thing died."

"Don't say that." Emilie said, "Someone is gonna get—"

"AH!" Everyone turned and saw a vine had wrapped itself around Dausi's tail, pulling her closer to the wall, and other vines started creating a pod around her.

"Dausi!" Connor swam to his bride faster than the speed of light, drawing a sword and trying to cut through, "Come on…break!" A vine tried to grab him, but he threw his hand in front of him, "FUCK OFF!" To the shock of everyone, fire shot from his hands, burning through the vines.

Eden turned with Zoe and Emilie from where they had been battling vines. Connor looked at his hands, and smirked, blasting the fire at the pod, causing it to burn to a crisp. Dausi emerged, only half conscious. Connor took her and carried her,

"Connor, take Dausi to the bottom of the pit." Zoe shouted, "We'll handle this!" He obeyed, and Zoe shoved the others to the bottom, grabbing Adrien, and destroying every single vine. Satisfied, she swam down.

The room at the bottom was beautiful, lit up by dozens of golden flowers. In the center was a gigantic pink oyster. Connor was feeding some of the flower petals to Dausi, who healed over and shot up,

"I'm alive!" She put a hand on her chest, trying to assure herself, then she clung to Connor and started crying. Connor stroked her hair soothingly.

Zoe turned to the shell, pulling out Excalibur, "Dramatically open for a—what?" A violet orb flew out,

"Hey Princess!" The Eli-orb flew around her and tickled her, "I've missed you!" Zoe hugged the orb,

"Missed you too, Hero. Let's get you back to your body." It was still shocking that the piece was found down here, but now they could take some flowers for themselves. Score.

"So that's the boy you are hopelessly in love with?" Connor asked. Zoe nodded,

"Yeah… sorry about this Connor."

"Sorry for wh—" They were all in the Gummi ship.

Connor yelped, looking down at his bare human lower half. Everyone except Dausi was doing everything they could not to look. Zoe looked even more pregnant with a shirt on.

Eden chucked a towel at him, "We'll get you clothes when ZOE GETS ME TAMPONS!"

"Again with the tampons?" Zoe groaned. Connor raised his hand sheepishly,

"Why do I have legs? I am so confused." Dausi bent down beside him, giving him some boxers, a shirt and some jeans from Adrien.

"We are all from another world." She explained, "I am a shapeshifter that Zoe created a few years ago. I am so sorry…"

Connor blinked, then blinked again, "Okay."

Everyone turned to face him now that he was dressed. "You're okay with this?" Emilie asked in shock, glad, but confused.

"Do you see my mother here?" Everyone shook their heads. "Then I love my new life. I have a stunning wife and a bunch of nice people, and my insane mother is nowhere. Not to mention I hated pretty much everyone on my world." Zoe roared with laughter.

"You are gonna fit in just fine. Especially with that fire power of yours."

Connor nodded, "I'm glad someone accepts it. Most merfolk consider me a freak for power over fire." Dausi leaned into his embrace, and he kissed her gently. Zoe sighed when they found a mall in the Lanes Between. They landed, and Connor realized he couldn't walk.

Zoe paired Adrien and Eden together, Dausi and Connor, and herself and Emilie.

A security guard came over.

"Um…Excuse me, Miss, is your friend okay." He gestured to Connor, who couldn't walk.

"My husband." Dausi said, "And we…got into an accident a while back…and he can't walk." The security guard's eyes widened, and he brought a cheap wheelchair. "Thank you."

"Okay. You and Dausi get the condoms." Zoe ordered, and everyone knew from her gesture that she didn't want them to tell him what those were.

"What's a condom?" Everyone was silent, and Connor was getting legitimately scared. Zoe just shrugged, wanting someone little shapeshifter-mer babies,

"Nothing for you to worry your pretty little head about." The married couple left, and Zoe was the first to speak.

"How long before we have little babies on the way?"

"A month." Adrien bet.

"A week." Emilie.

Eden topped them all, "Until Kelly gets them drunk."

"So ten minutes?" Emilie asked with a laugh.

The groups split and Zoe and Emilie went for books, and the former introduced the latter to the glory of Sarah J. Maas books. When Emilie wasn't trying to be the mother, they got along quite well.

"Now where's the wine aisle?" Zoe asked. Emilie frowned,

"You are sixteen. How would you possibly…?" Zoe pulled out a false I.D,

"Not my first rodeo. I know people."

Emilie sighed, "Fine."

OoOoO

At the checkout counter, Adrien was ready to die from all the taunting from everyone else for the tampons.

"Your parents should have been shot for making you." He mumbled, looking up to the checkout woman, "I'm sorry, what?"

"I'm sorry sir, but the price isn't coming up on these."

Adrien looked at the box of tampons, "What?"

"I'm sorry, but the barcode on this box of tampons seems to be damaged. Let me do a price check." Adrien gasped,

"Oh god…"

The woman picked up her intercom, "Can I get a price check on one box of mountain breeze, quiet package…"

Zoe snickered, "Adri got a quiet package."

"I heard that and I'm killing you all." Adrien retaliated, falling deeper into despair as the intercom continued,

"Extra large, collapsable, easy application, pearl tip—" he threw money on the counter,

"Look. Here. Ten thousand euros, _keep_ the change

"tampons…" That word echoed in Adrien's mind, and then he absolutely lost it.

"YES TAMPONS! I, ADRIEN AGRESTE, FASHION SUPERMODEL AM. BUYING. TAMPONS! Little things my sister wants _stuck_ in her unmentionables for no reason I, and my Y-Chromosomes, can possibly comprehend. Tampons." He took the intercom from her, "Let's say it some more. Tampons Tampons Tampons Tampons, TAAAAMMMMPPPOOONNNNSSSS!" He dropped the intercom, and started sobbing.

Zoe laughed, "Well, there goes a broken man."

OoOoO

"So Nat, how ya doing?" Kelly asked, as Natalie came out of the bathroom after vomiting for five minutes.

"Is this even worth a child?" She asked, sitting on the couch and eating a huge bar of chocolate.

"Wait until you feel like a whale." Harrison responded, "But the second trimester is heaven for all parties involved."

Eli was cuddling with Felix and the animals, confused altogether. Zoe barged in with a skip in her step as the next soul piece flew at Eli. Eli's face brightened, and he smiled at Zoe,

"It's you!" He held out his hand, "I'm Eli!"

"I know!" Zoe pleaded. Gabriel frowned,

"Um…who's that over there making out with Dausi?" Zoe turned,

"Oh, that's Connor. Dausi's husband." Harrison put the newlyweds in a guest room with a laugh.

Eden pouted at the tampons, "Emilie…I need help." Kelly's eyes widened and he reached for some whiskey. Gabriel laughed as karma hit,

" has stopped working."

"Just grow a pair." Zoe responded, sharing a party-sized bag of Doritos with Natalie.

"I did with you!" Kelly snapped, "And now a woman who isn't my youngest's parent is helping her with things a mother should be!"

"I'm so glad I only have one son." Gabriel said, earning a smack over the head from Natalie. Then he realized his error. "Oh…there's no backtracking that, is there?"

"Nope." Natalie responded, "I am carrying your child and this thing makes it impossible to work!" Gabriel chuckled,

"Natalie dearest, I am so sorry for exposing you to these assholes."

"These assholes are your family." Harrison snapped. Eli raised his hand,

"Excuse me, but who the hell are you all and where am I?" Zoe burst into tears and Eden came out of the bathroom.

"Eli, you have amnesia. We are looking for a cure. Just hang in there."

"Okay." Kelly stood up,

"Yo, how about Dausi stay here. Em and I go with Adrien, Eden—"

"And me." They all turned and saw Hana Miller standing there. Her long hair was tied in a braided ponytail over her shoulder. Kelly grinned,

"Okay." Kelly said, "Dude, you okay with that?"

Zoe nodded, "We'll sleep in the Impala. That's what I have named our Gummi Ship. But we need to go."

"I'm sorry for making you sad." Zoe turned and saw Eli looking at her innocently. She cupped his cheek,

"It's fine, love." She assured, "We'll be back soon." She turned to Adrien, "And we are blaring Queen on the ship."

"Fine by me." Kelly responded, "Bohemian Rhapsody?"

"Naturally."

OoOoO

"Mother!" Maescia ran to her mother, "They got the piece!"

"Damnit." Regina cursed. "We need to keep them occupied…" she brightened and grinned darkly, "Molara!" Molara appeared, and she looked like she had been in hell.

"Mother?" Regina greeted her,

"Okay. So two Worldbenders, and a boy so willfully powerful he broke out of Mara's control… I have an idea, and you will get revenge for what they did to you, daughter." Molara's eyes widened as her lie potentially caught up with her. Regina laughed, "This couldn't have been better if I had planned it. For once, Kelly is helpful by playing matchmaker. Just watch the master at work."

…

Meanwhile, Natalie fell to her knees and shrieked, going from month one to nine in three seconds. She screamed,

"GABRIEL!"

Gabriel ran in, his eyes widening as he pulled out the phone, "Kelly, get your ass back here! Something's wrong!"

**A/N: Things have gone very wrong with those bitter witches. Want to see what happens? Review and save the author kwami to find out!**

**And that thing with Adrien flipping out over tampons actually happened when my Dad went shopping in Hawaii. It was very memorable.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: The author kwami is starving! Please review!**

** Warning - Feels and suicidal thoughts**

**Chapter 11: Never let you go**

"Mother! Stop!" Molara begged, brushing her platinum blonde hair out of her eyes, "It's a child!"

"Just relax." Her mother assured calmly, stroking her daughter's hair, "Magical babies are always fine."

"Magical?" Maescia asked, "I thought—"

"Wielder of the Butterfly and wielder of the Peacock are the parents," Regina explained, "And Kelly's little stunt by getting them together, even with a small thing like changing flavor of drink, was enough to add more magic in."

"What about the mother?" Molara asked. Regina laughed,

"Won't be so fine."

OoOoO

"I think my water just broke." Natalie breathed, as the crew ran in.

"How is this possible?!" Gabriel helped her onto his wheelchair and didn't care that his bones were getting re-crushed, "One to nine in seconds!" Natalie screamed, and Kelly picked her up like she weighed absolutely nothing, not even stumbling as the team piled into the car. Thanks to Zoe's Worldbender powers, the car that used to fit maybe four people was like a clown car, which could fit like a hundred while still looking small.

Everyone was still wondering how this happened.

"DOES IT FUCKING MATTER?!" Natalie punched Gabriel's arm as a contraction hit. Kelly was driving like a madman—and then everyone knew where Zoe got it.

"Magical baby. God fucking damnit. I should have known!" He frowned, "But no matter how magical, one to nine months in three seconds is extreme. Something is making this very different."

Zoe looked back from where she was sitting in shotgun, "Are you saying—"

"God I hope not."

They made it to the hospital and the paramedics took Natalie back, leaving everyone in the waiting room.

One hour later

Gabriel had asked Kelly to give him some resilience to the pain so he could pace around the room.

Marinette was pouring over ancient texts left to her by Fu with Kelly, to find out how this happened. It helped that his OP mind powers allowed him to read the texts in any language, and he had more experience in the field, so he was a huge help.

Zoe was bad in emotional situations. So she tried to lighten the mood,

"Gabe. Do you remember when the team lost their memories?" Adrien turned,

"We went to Castle Oblivion?"

"Oblivio the akuma villain," she responded, "But sure." Gabriel chuckled,

"When you chucked me across Paris?"

"Yup."

_It turned out the love square was meant to be. Adrien and Marinette had amnesia, and still fell for each other. Evelyn was watching them, also with amnesia, and Mockingjay and Fireheart were chilling. Fireheart was confused, namely because she had seen Mockingjay get hit, but he wasn't affected whatsoever, almost like the orb absorbed into his being and nothing more._

_(Unbeknownst to her at the time, once Eli detransformed, he fainted from the strain of the damaged Miraculous being hit and was in the ICU of the hospital in a coma for days. She didn't know because Douglas said he was visiting his grandparents in New York.)_

_"__So hatchling," Mockingjay said, "What do we do now?"_

_"__I stop the villain." Fireheart snatched the Ladybug Earrings from an unsuspecting Marinette, detransforming and putting them in her hair—because she didn't have her ears pierced, and Gabriel had insisted she use hair spray that day, and now her hair was concrete._

_"__Tikki, spots on! Blazze, merge!" Dragonbug was there now. Mockingjay awed at the outfit. It was the same as the concept art as the Dragonbug for Ladybug, just on Zoe._

_"__Lucky Charm!" A brooch of a butterfly fell into her hand, and she brightened. And now she had an idea._

_She kissed Mockingjay, "Look out for them, Hero. And keep the Villain distracted, and preferably at the top of the building." He nodded, and she flew off, breaking into the window of the lair._

_"__Zoe?" Hawk Moth frowned, "What the—" she grabbed him and flew out of the lair, "What are you doing?!" Dragonbug chucked him, using her hawk-eyes to pinpoint how hard to throw him for him to plow into Oblivio with a loud groan._

_"__Why meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee—" And that, no joke, was how Oblivio was defeated—by having Hawk Moth crash land into them. Hawky wisely ran away at top speed as Dragonbug reverted everything back to normal. Good thing the reveal had already happened, otherwise Marinette would be flipping out to be making out with Chat Noir in that moment._

_Later, Gabriel and Zoe laughed about it, the former pointing out that he understood the appeal of flying…if it weren't for the sudden landing. He hadn't been in pain, and it was embarrassing, though once Zoe pulled up the video Tigris had taken, he had to admit the experience was hilarious._

_It was strange how well Zoe had managed to bring him out of his shell, make him act like a normal father and normal anti-social introvert for the most part. If he wasn't a supervillain, they could be really good friends. But right now it was just strange._

Gabriel laughed a little, followed by everyone else, as Zoe pulled up the video. She might not have been good in emotional situation, but diversion was a specialty.

…

"Mom! Please!" Molara begged. She wasn't the youngest of the sisters—being 96, though looking 17—but she was easily the most pure of them, so the idea her lie could cause an innocent woman to die sickened her to the core. Regina turned to her from where she was doing her spell,

"Please continue? Happy to oblige." Maescia gently held Molara to her chest, letting her quietly cry and scream.

"This isn't right…" Maescia sighed, stroking her sister's hair,

"I know Lara, I know."

A minute passed, then two, then Regina smiled,

"You can calm down now, daughter. It is done." Molara turned,

"What did they do to you? What did any of them do to you?! WHAT DID AMELIA DO TO YOU?!"

Maescia softened, "That's right…you were still little and staying with Melainia and Margret. Lara…Amelia was White Sparrow." Molara knew that. She was one of three witches to help Amelia and Kelly escape, but she had to play dumb here, otherwise she would damn her other two sisters as well.

"W-What? Amelia would never!"

"She gave up her immortality, became a superhero to stop us, married a human, and ignored the prophecy, allowing her son to live!" Regina snapped, "And if my pathetic daughter wouldn't help, then I will take matters into my own hands and stall the Worldbender so she doesn't save the young warlock." She hugged her daughter, "Molara, when you are older, you will understand. Not all of my children are as strong as Mara."

"I don't want to be in this family anymore!" Molara shrieked, running out of the tower and looking for a sister who would understand.

…

"Mr. Kelly, what are those books?" Eli pointed to the grimoire. Kelly turned,

"Just Kelly is fine. They're books on magic." Eli pulled up the sleeve on his left arm, revealing the black runes marking his upper bicep in a ring-like fashion.

"What do these mean?" Kelly bit his lip,

"I'll tell you when you get your memory back. But those aren't bad."

Dr. Winston came out, and Zoe wasn't sure if he eternally looked afraid, or if it was just handling this family. He looked like he wanted to jump out the window to avoid talking to them.

(Meanwhile, anyone who read _Rise of Papillon_, if you remember when Dr. Winston was trying to figure out if suicide is the answer to avoid giving bad news, that is exactly what was going through the doctor's head at this given moment.)

"Um…come back…?" The entire team came back, and the doctor started biting the eraser on his pencil, a mannerism that hadn't been seen before, but the way we was looking down, trying to hide his hazel eyes, he was nervous.

He cleared his throat, "Okay…" he walked into a back room, "Let's start with the good news." He handed Gabriel a little baby with a head full of raven black hair, "Your daughter is fine, one of the healthiest babies I have even seen actually. Especially with what occurred to accelerate the pregnancy—don't even ask me what that was, I have no idea."

Gabriel's eyes teared up, looking down at the little girl looking curiously up at him, her eyes so perfectly blue they were like those swimming pools with chlorine. The baby smiled. But there was still bad news, "And the bad? Because there is nothing wrong with this little one."

Dr. Winston was clenching his fists, but not in malice, "Natalie…your lover…didn't make it." Everyone gasped, except Gabriel. Because he would accept that. He gave the baby back to the doctor,

"Then give me the one Natalie made." Kelly actually chuckled a little, but it was actually because he was reading Dr. Winston's mind, at how much the doctor wanted to get a new job.

Everyone was trying to work out if Gabriel was serious, and he was completely serious.

Dr. Winston looked at the baby, before giving her to Adrien, who passed her to Zoe, who was still holding Felix and passed him to Eli and looked down at the little girl. It was a whole process.

Kelly took the baby from her, only to jump and almost drop said child, so Zoe took her back.

"No…"

And Kelly ran, snatching some white paint and running to the cellar, where he started painting a pentagram, before slicing his palm deep enough to scar, even with Eden's healing. He ran his bleeding hand on the ground and recited words he had use more times than one in his youth,

"Dewch â mi Regina Blackwell a dod â hi i'r lle hwn!" His eyes flashed gold like twin coins as he used magic of the Old Religion. The language was Welsh. It was the perk of being raised by witches, he knew how to use magic.

In the words of the mirror from _Mirror Mirror_, "Everyone has magic within them, but very few discover it and learn to spend it wisely." Kelly himself had learned how to use magic very early on, but what made him a Warlock now and not then was that he developed an extremely powerful gift. Some Warlocks are born, like Eli, others are made, like Kelly.

A wind picked up in the room as Kelly chanted the spell again and again, unaware Marinette had followed him and was watching from behind a doorway. He would have known via his mind powers, but he was a little preoccupied.

Regina appeared, and she didn't look any different from last time he had seen her.

She had raven-black hair that was piled atop her head, fair skin, and slanted violet eyes. She wore a gown of dark red and black, and around her neck was a necklace that was shaped like a snake biting its tail.

"Well hello Kelly Darling." Kelly glared, baring his teeth. Kelly Darling was, for some reason, the nickname most of the witches had for him, once upon a time it was a friendly thing, but now she was just taunting him. He punched her, hard enough that there was a deep cut on the witch's nose. The shock of the blow sent Regina stumbling to the ground,

"You killed Natalie!" He seethed, knowing she couldn't leave the Pentagram Circle until he removed the summon on her, so he bent down with her, "Are you still pissed about Eli being alive? Or did you find out about what my eldest did to your eldest." Regina glared at him,

"BOTH! I raised you, and yet when I ask for help stopping the prophecy, you and Amelia turn on me!"

"The prophecy?" Kelly scoffed, "You got it off a drunk Rabi, I am very much sure the man had no idea what he was talking about."

"No." Regina put her hands on her hips, "A Blackwell Warlock and a Worldbender united in love, merge the land of Albion, meaning uniting the worlds, alienate realities would be left alone, but other worlds would be merged into one! Everything I have worked for would be ruined! They are my destiny and my doom!"

Kelly laughed bitterly, "You reap what you sew, Regina. The more you kill, the more my daughter will wish to kill you. If she doesn't, I will. Let me guess, you planned to go slow with your revenge. You forgot to remove your magical signature from the baby. Quite the slip-up. You're getting old."

"Damnit." Regina cursed. "I am a witch! I do not get old!"

"Replace the W with a B."

"I am a Bi—" Regina narrowed her eyes, "You're horrible." Kelly flipped her off.

"I didn't bring you here for old times sake." He responded, "I'm here to make a deal." That caught Regina's interest,

"And what would this deal be?" She loved deals, because she took finding loopholes like a game. But because Kelly had been raised around her, he knew how to make it foolproof.

"Take me, and only me. Kill me if you wish. And you and your entire direct family—not counting grandchildren—leave my family and anyone associated with them alone until the end of time. My family will not harm you or your family, and vice versa. If you refuse, my family and I can vanish, just like I did before." Regina seemed to genuinely ponder this offer, and Marinette silently gasped from behind the pillar she was hiding behind.

Then the witch laughed.

"Kelly Darling. I can always find you. It took a little time, but the day before your eldest's fifth birthday, I found you." Kelly froze.

"You're bluffing. Nobody in my family bore the Recrusent Sigil." Regina smirked,

"Nobody? Nobody at all? Not even dear Maeve?" He jerked backwards at the realization, his stomach knotting up,

"What did you do."

Regina put a finger to her lips and winked, "My secret." Kelly roared, but as soon as he stepped into the Pentagram to strike her again, he broke the circle and Regina vanished. He fell to his knees.

Marinette came out from behind the pillar, "The Recrusent Sigil?" Kelly turned,

"How much of that did you hear?"

"All of it. Who was that anyways? You were willing to die at her hands, and something about a prophecy?" Kelly nodded.

"You are the Guardian of the Miraculous, and you too bear the sigil. I think you should know." They sat criss cross and Kelly started explaining,

"That woman is my legally adopted mother, Regina Blackwell…Eli's grandmother."

"So Zoe is dating her cousin?"

"No. God no. Adopted mother, she took me in after my parents died in a car crash. Saying Regina and I are related is like saying Zoe and Gabriel are related." Marinette nodded thoughtfully, letting him continue.

"When we were ten years old, Amelia—my best friend and partner—and I found a cave in the woods of Manhattan. Not really there anymore, but this was twenty-five years ago on this world. There, we found the Amulet of the Blue Jay, and the Cuff of the Lion." He held out his arm to show her the scorch scars in the pattern of a Lion on his wrist. "Amelia knew her mother wasn't…morally the best person to look up to, but she also didn't want to have a higher chance of survival over me, and she wanted to live a mortal life, so she yielded her immortality. Because Amelia was named by my parents due to being swapped at the hospital, she wasn't given the Recrusent Sigil, and that is why it took five more years, after I was dying from my kwami being killed, for her to learn what happened."

"That's how you got your mind powers, right?" Marinette shrugged, "I would like to go to that cave."

"Alright. I'll take you sometime." Kelly chuckled, "Anyway, Regina did her evil things and Amelia and I always stopped her. Then she fell in love with Harrison, a very good friend of ours from high school, and they got married and had Eli. You see, witches bare can bear sons, and it is called a Warlock. Eli is a very powerful Warlock. However, due to that bullshit prophecy, Regina had every male offspring killed. So Amelia had me bind Eli's powers, because I have always been better at that than her. That's the tattoo mark on his bicep. With his powers bound, Regina wouldn't be able to find him, especially lacking the Recrusent Sigil. But Mara found him when he was three…"

"Does that mean Mara is stronger than Regina? Because I know after that, Amelia sacrificed herself."

"No. Regina is the strongest of them all. Mara was keeping tabs on Amelia and discovered him." His eyes darkened to a deep navy, "If my eyes just darkened…it's a downside to my power, my eye color tells my emotions. Red is anger, normal blue is calm or happy, darker blue is sad." She nodded and let him continue, going through the grimoire to add this kind of thing in for future Guardians.

"Amelia didn't die immediately." She looked up as he spoke, "I dropped an unconscious Eli off with Harry, and went back for her, still wielding her Miraculous. But I got there to find Mara gone and Amelia gasping for breath and a bottle of hemlock a few feet away, having rolled off. I used my mind powers to keep her mind and soul from being taken by a Reaper, and went to Paris to get a cure. While the poison was easy to remove, she had taken the same deal Gabriel did with Adrien. She would die, slowly and painfully, feeling like she was torn apart. That was what I needed Fu for, because I had only had my powers for five years, and was still weak and ill."

"That's why you killed Fu?" Marinette asked. Kelly nodded,

"I told him to pull me back after an hour, in which my power would disconnect from Amelia. But he dumped me on that world permanently, and I felt the exact moment she died. I was simply returning the favor on that bastard." He sighed, "The last thing I did was wipe the memory of me from Eli, that way a doctor could tell him his mother died of cancer. If Eli remembered me, he would ask where I was, and Harrison truly sucks at lying—like he lies and then blurts out the truth while revealing a secret nobody wanted to know—and Eli would learn what happened and blame himself forever."

"He tends to do that…" Marinette nodded in agreement at that assessment, "But why keep the runes now?"

"He will die if I remove them." He explained, "Remember the _Frozen_ incident? That is part of Eli's power he was born with, the reason it hurt him so badly is because he has cracks in his soul. The soul needs to be healthy for magic to be used safely. The Damaged Miraculous was trying to destroy the runes, and only because I am the most powerful Mind Mage to exist did they not break. But until his soul is healed, he cannot lose the runes."

Marinette nodded, "You're an interesting man, Kelly." She looked up at him, "Fu taught me a lot, but I have a feeling you have more helpful tips and wont be annoying about secret identities and being cryptic."

Kelly wrapped an arm around her as they stood up, "Want me to be your mentor? Gladly. I could probably teach you how to mess with people via mind powers." Marinette laughed at that,

"Last question, what is the Recrusent Sigil?" Kelly darkened,

"It a method in which witches and other powerful magical beings can track others. There are two ways to brand it: clothes and name. Each extremely powerful witch choses a letter, and if they name someone with that as the first letter, they can be tracked, and this applies to anyone with a magical signature with said letter. Regina's in the letter M, meaning Magic or Miraculous. That is why all of her daughters except Amelia bear that letter, and it's the birth certificate that confirms it. However Maeve had a magical signature, a way of being identified by other magical creatures, from she and I conceiving children. And you are the Guardian of the Miraculous…."

"So you're telling me Regina can find me anywhere because of what my parents named me?"

"Kind of. You got a magical signature when you activated the Ladybug earrings the first time, and it strengthened when you became Guardian."

"Lovely." Marinette rolled her eyes, "Well, it could be worse. But we should get back. When I left, Dr. Winston threw a sheet of Natalie's dead body and stormed off, 300% done with dealing with us."

"Oh shit. We should go." They went upstairs and saw Gabriel sobbing, Emilie trying to comfort him. The others were arguing over who got to name the baby and trying to distract themselves.

"Okay!" Marinette threw her hands up, "Zoe is naming the baby!" She knew full well that Zoe was pregnant—hell, everyone except Zoe herself knew that, there was a good chance the original Eli knew that—so this was good practice.

Zoe took the little girl, looking down at her with more love than anyone had seen her show anyone other than Eli, Kelly or Felix—not even Adrien got the love shown here.

"Welcome to the world, Elaine Agreste." The name Elaine was a name of French origin meaning "bright, shining light." Because Adrien meant "the dark one" it made sense for Elaine to have a light name.

It was clear Elaine was a magical baby, as she was an hour old and already looked a month old. Age would regulate around five years old, but she would jump in age a few times. Elaine was still trying to nurse on Zoe though.

Everyone was still devastated by Natalie's death, none more than Gabriel, but the others knew Elaine would grow fast, and didn't want her birth to be a day of grieving.

Gabriel was a complete mess, he was practically catatonic. He wasn't speaking to anyone in particular, just himself,

"Every woman I fall in love with…am I cursed? Is that it?" Kelly shook his head,

"No. It was an angry and vengeful witch. Mara's mother. But Gabriel, you gotta get up before Elaine thinks Zoe is her mother." That didn't get a response from him at all, but this did:

Zoe held Elaine, "I'm Satan. Remember little one, hail satan. God is a dick." Elaine genuinely nodded thoughtfully, and that got Gabriel's attention, literally ignoring the crippling agony in his legs from walking, so he could take his child back, before sitting back down,

"Zoe, I thought we agreed to not corrupt this one."

"Not corrupting. Teaching."

Felix was jumping up to try and see Elaine, "Can I hold the baby?" Gabriel let a tear fall, taking the small boy and setting him on his lap and giving him Elaine gently. Felix giggled, "You're gonna be so loved, Elaine. We're crazy and magical, but at least nothing is boring!" Emilie was taking pictures because that was adorable as Elaine grabbed Felix's fingers. Felix played with Elaine's feet, "You're gonna be so pretty, like Mama and Adrien! Maybe you can model with us!"

"Hail Satan!" Everyone looked down at Elaine. "Hail Satan!" She grinned widely.

Gabriel narrowed his eyes and turned to face Zoe, "I hate you more than I hate Adrien going to the grocery store!"

"Bitch, I invented the grocery store and introduced Adrien to it! Empress of Evil, motherfucker."

"Hail Satan." Gabriel glared at everything and then fingered the Butterfly Miraculous in a manner that everyone knew he was thinking about bringing Hawk Moth back as a Villain—prison be damned.

Eden appeared, covered in blood—nobody had noticed she was gone—and whacked Gabriel over the head with a hand that wasn't hers.

"Do I want to know?" Eli asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

"Dad wasn't the only one to notice a magical signature that was familiar." Eden said, "So I jumped across worlds with just my demon power and took my hormone rage out on a witch. This is Maescia's hand." Nobody knew whether to be disturbed or impressed.

Eli was very confused, "I'm…just gonna take the babies home…"

"No Eli." Adrien responded, "You aren't well." Eli put his hands on his hips,

"I have five whole pieces of soul from what Harrison told me! I can take care of myself….which way is the mansion?"

"Five of thirteen." Marinette added.

"That's more than yesterday."

"You don't have pupils." Gabriel continued.

"I can see just fine." Eli just huffed and left, calling Gorilla to pick him up. While nobody wanted him to leave alone with Felix and Elaine, Gorilla would protect him. The hulking bodyguard had developed a soft spot for Eli in the months they had known each other.

Zoe stood up, calling Hana, who was back at the house with Harrison. "Meet us in the park in ten minutes."

The Gummi Ship was stocked and flew off within twenty minutes. The team consisted of Felix—who they grabbed—Hana, Kelly, Emilie, Adrien, Eden and Zoe herself, meaning Gabriel and Harrison were left alone without anyone to prevent any sort of awkwardness.

But this time, that was a good thing.

OoOoO

Five days after the team had left, Gabriel was sitting on the roof of the mansion. He had gotten up there with the Butterfly Miraculous, and this was where he liked to think. Zoe had shown him how to get into the roof and they would watch the stars and tell tales of their childhoods. Now he was watching the stars and having flashes of the happy memories he and Natalie had shared, the ones he had taken for granted.

They had been inseparable since they were four years old, she had been with him through everything. She was the one who gave him pep-talks while dating Emilie, the maid of honor. When Adrien was born, she took the job as his assistant.

Oddly enough, they grew apart after that, even though they saw each other everyday. With him working endlessly, or spending time with his wife and beloved son. When Emilie was gone, his relationship with his best friend improved, around the time she developed feelings for her. He had always loved her, he just didn't really realize it, not without Kelly's help. And after all of that, all of the forty years they had been ready to conquer the world, she was gone.

He had Elaine and Adrien. But…did he? Elaine was still young enough to not truly know who her parent was, since she had tried nursing on Zoe of all people. And Adrien…they had been going to counseling, but a massive part of him remembered how convinced he had been that Adrien knew nothing, still loved him dearly, only to discovered an unadulterated loathing behind the smiling mask. Trying to fix everything then made it worse and that was how he lost the painless use of his legs. Did Adrien really love him? Or was it just another act.

He looked down at the bottle of whiskey he had been nursing, and his eyes trailed to the edge of the house, where there was concrete below.

He was a fashion designer, a damn good one. But Marinette was just as good at a much younger age…

He was rich, famous, respected…but did anyone really care for anything other than his status? The paparazzi and their crazes said no.

Natalie had cared. His parents had cared. He hadn't spoken to Victor in years. Everyone he knew cared were gone. He found himself looking back at the edge.

He wasn't really considering this? Right? It was just the alcohol talking. Even though he had only taken a sip or so. It had to be the alcohol talking. He hadn't been like this when he lost Emilie either time—sure the latter could be blamed on Kelly soothing the blow with his terrifying powers—so why was he thinking like this now? He should be thinking about ways to _avenge_ his best friend, not debating _joining_ her, orphaning his infant daughter.

He scrambled away from the edge as he realized he had been leaning close enough to fall. But…would it have been falling? NO! He needed to get off this roof, but he didn't trust himself enough to do so on his own.

"Gabe? You okay?" Gabriel turned and saw…Harrison flying? Wearing rocket boots? What the fuck?

Harrison landed on the rooftop with him, "Hope you don't mind. I took one of those missiles from your lair and built these rocket boots."

"You used my missile to create things strong enough to propel a grown ass man off the ground?" Harrison shrugged,

"Yeah. I have a college major in all things technology. Kelly was able to still be Lionheart without his Miraculous because I built him awesome gadgets like Iron Man. Little rusty after so long, so I reused instead of building from scratch."

"You are aware you could be a billionaire with brains like that, right?" Harrison nodded,

"Yup. I was at one point as well…until Amelia died." Gabriel then remembered Harrison had lost his one and only as well, maybe he would understand these suicidal thoughts that Gabriel wanted nothing more than to have take the next bus out.

"Harry…you don't mind if I call you that, right?" Harrison shrugged, and he continued, "You lost your wife…" Gabriel pulled out an engagement ring with opal gemstones—Natalie's birth stone—"I was planning to propose to Natalie, before…and I don't know what I feel or what I'm thinking, and for some reason I want death." Harrison pursed his lips,

"You need advice?" Gabriel nodded.

"How did you cope?"

"I didn't. Remember when I said past tense to being a billionaire? That's because I was so depressed from Amelia's death and Kelly's disappearance that I got addicted to all kinds of drugs, Heroin mostly. I never physically hurt Eli, but I did make us go bankrupt within five years. I blew his college funds too." Harrison started tearing up, "Eli was twelve when I couldn't take it anymore and purposefully overdosed. He came home, and please remember this boy was a superhero too, and immediately rushed me to the hospital. He has always been a brilliant boy, and had graduated high school the year prior and had gotten a full scholarship to Columbia University, one of the best school in New York, with a 7% acceptance rate."

Gabriel was really impressed actually at that, though he was surprised Harrison had been in such a dark place, "Damn. Did he get it from you or Amelia?"

"Both. Amelia was a brilliant mind as well." He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes, "We couldn't afford rehab, and my parents had died a while back and there was no way I would leave Eli with Regina—something I had not thought about at the time because I was really fucking high when I decided to end my life—so we couldn't get money. Eli worked three jobs, and was studying his ass off to graduate college so he could get a better job to help me, all while being a full-time superhero. He did it so I could get rehabilitated. To this day, I will never understand the sacrifices that precious boy made for me, or more specifically why."

While Harrison told his tale, Gabriel was earning more and more respect for Eli. If he could do this at thirteen, parenthood at roughly eighteen—assuming Zoe had her baby in a couple months—would be a walk in the park.

"I don't understand. Eli was extremely successful without you, so unless you are encouraging me to die, I don't see what this has to do with me." Harrison sighed,

"Eli didn't have any friends other than Pixie Girl and the Sorcerer. He was bullied and picked on, all because of me and what I had done. People are cruel, Gabriel. And even though you may want to end it all, ease the pain, don't. If not for you, then for Elaine. Adrien loves you, he really does, and is trying to make things right, and he will be graduating soon and going to college. Elaine is still a baby, and she has already figured out that you are her father, she's a smart one like her parents. She needs you, not Kelly, not me, not Eli, not Mr. Dupain, _you_. With love comes loss, this is true, but there is still a little girl who doesn't deserve to know that pain yet."

"I can't…" Gabriel broke down. He wasn't a rich designer right now, he was just a man who had lost everything that mattered time and time again, and was just breaking even more. He was human. Harrison didn't judge, he just sat and listened—throwing the alcohol off the edge so bad things didn't happen. Gabriel didn't notice Harrison drape a blanket over his shoulders, just continuing to cry.

"Every time I look at her…I see Natalie…and I remember that she's gone and I s-s-still have a funeral to plan a-a-and I try not to let her know I can't look at her, but it's so fucking hard! Why couldn't I have died when I saved Adrien? Kelly would h-have still brought back Emilie, Adrien wouldn't have to pretend, a-and Natalie would still be alive!"

Harrison just held him, tears in his own eyes, "You have done many a questionable thing, Gabriel. But this is not your fault. It's fucking Regina's fault. We all want revenge on that bitch, and my grand plan in to kill her, disembowl her like an Egyptian mummy, and use her as a piñata at the victory party. What do you say?"

Gabriel rubbed his eyes, "I…I'd like that." Harrison laughed,

"I have cookies in the oven, but for right now, since everyone else it at their respective home so it is you, me, Eli—who is asleep—and Elaine, how about you go spend time with her." Gabriel nodded and Harrison helped him down with the badass rocket boots.

Gabriel walked into the nursery, the yellow light illuminating the room with pink walls, glowing stars were on the ceiling, and there was a mural on one of the walls of their entire family.

Elaine was laying in a white crib with pink and spring-green bedding, wearing a pink onesie with a gold crown on it. She was chewing on a lilac teddy bear. She saw him, and smiled that kind of smile only a baby was capable of.

"Hello Elaine." He said softly, trying to focus on her baby features and ignore how much she looked like her mother. He picked her up and sat in the rocking chair.

Elaine's bright blue eyes found his and she laughed, as only a baby could laugh a sweet sound unblemished by the hurts of life. Her little face glowed from a light within, and her miniature fingers grasped Gabriel's, and held tight. She knew! Somehow it felt like she knew he needed comfort in the dead silence of the night, she knew he needed joy in the midst of his pain. He held her to his chest tightly, and he knew then that he would never let this precious bundle go no matter what came, he would protect her.

_"__Way up above us, twinkling bright_

_There must be a million stars in the sky tonight… tonight_

_But don't you worry, no need to cry_

_You are the only twinkle that's in my eye, tonight_

_You're more than one in a million_

_No one can take your place_

_Though I could try, there's no way_

_That I could ever forget your face_

_You're more than one in a million_

_No other ever could do_

_'Cause not even one in a million_

_Could ever compare to you_

_Could ever come close to you_

_Through all the laughter, through all the tears_

_Whenever you need me, I will be standing here, right here_

_No need to wonder, don't ever fear_

_Though you may wonder, I'll always be right here, right here_

_You're more than one in a million_

_No one can take your place_

_Though I could try, there's no way_

_That I could ever forget your face_

_You're more than one in a million_

_No other ever could do_

_Not even one in a million_

_Could ever compare to you_

_Could ever come close to you_

_Could ever come close to you…"_

"Papa." Gabriel looked down and saw her smiling sleepily, "Papa." Not Fucker, not asshole, not Hawky, not Gabe, not Mommy—yeah, to Adrien as a baby, there was Mom and Mommy, get it wrong and he flipped out—but Papa. She understood.

"Oh Elaine." He smiled at her, "I will never let you go."

He fell asleep with that same smile on his face.

And that was how Harrison found them. Elaine was sleeping on Gabriel's chest, still holding her stuffed bear, with Gabriel sleeping as well, with a dreamy smile.

Harrison looked at the cookies, before putting the in the oven, which was set to warm, and going to bed himself.

**A/N: This chapter was all the feels and some story explanation. Next chapter is one of the longest worlds, meaning the chapters will be longer and/or there will be more of them. Points to who can guess the song sang by Gabriel.**

**And remember to review to feed the author kwami!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Credit to Driver 3196 for the world and characters. There will be much talk of _Supernatural_.**

**Chapter 12: Jared**

They had been in the Lanes Between for five fucking days and it was Adrien's fault, well…it was Hana's fault for giving Adrien the wheel. Adrien was cursed with bad luck and as such they had crashed into a meteor and got sucked into a black hole—and Zoe drained herself trying to suck them out—and no longer had any idea where the dicks they were going.

Blazze emerged from the mini-fridge,

"Zoe, do you mind if I take the wheel?" Zoe frowned.

"Blazze…hate to break it to ya, but you are tiny."

"You are a Worldbender. Do you mind giving me a human form for a few minutes? There's a world I know will have a piece, and I have a…friend there." Zoe nodded at the mention of Eli's soul. Eden helped her out, and the dragon kwami shifted into a human girl.

Blazze had light skin, gold eyes with the smallest hint of natural brown eyeshadow and beautiful auburn hair. She wore the front split and the two strands wrapped around her head and the rest pulled up into a bun. The rest of her hair was long and behind her, held be three golden bands to keep it in place. She wore a red dress with one strap holding it up on her left shoulder. The dress splits only barely with a trim of gold. She had two golden arm bracelets that curled in swirly patterns. She had many golden belts around her waist that ended in the center with a gem shaped like a dragon. Around her bun was a wreath of green leafs and what looked like holly berries. Her ears were long and pointed.

"Damn." Kelly said, "Half expected you to be naked." Emilie punched his arm as Blazze laughed,

"Kwamis used to be human-looking. Fae to be specific. We took the animal form when we chose our respective Miraculous. This is my Fae form, god I missed it." She sat in the driver seat, and Zoe buckled up Felix, as Blazze hit the pedal and they went flying forward at Ridiculous Speed—only people who have seen _Spaceballs_ will get that joke.

They may have crashed into the world worse than Adrien and that meteor. Zoe stumbled out first, but not before changing her loose dress into a t-shirt, jean jacket and black jeans. She also was covered in concealed guns.

It looked like Paris, or it used to look like Paris. It was quite the hot mess.

"What is this place?" Emilie asked, holding Felix and Adrien close to her. Blazze changed back to her kwami form and sat on Zoe's shoulder,

"The war has taken a toll it seems, more so than usual. This world is called Blight. Before I even continue, our alternate versions are the villain, so avoid names like Ladybug and Chat Noir at all cost. Anyway, most of the world is a wasteland. The American Empire is the only successful civilization, but they are selfish though, as most if not all versions of America. While other nations attempted to rebuild, the Empire's government refused to assist. This gave rise to multiple resistance groups throughout the world that wanted to cut the throat of this last edifice of civilization in hopes of benefitting the rest of the world. This is Paris, Ladybug is like Hawk Moth."

"So America is the enemy or the good?" Kelly frowned, "I was President at one point, so that's gonna be fun. There were too many hardcore Liberals that prevented me from doing much anything. My stance is that I don't care Democrat or Republican, as long as the government leaves me the fuck alone."

"I would think you would bend them all to your will." Adrien said with a laugh. Kelly shrugged,

"Not strong enough to control a hundred people at a time, at least not then." Zoe pulled out her gun, and jumped when she felt something behind her.

"To answer your question," Blazze responded, "Neither is good, but America is least bad."

They were all blinded by a bright orange light. A man stood there. He was in a black suit with brown leather accents, black leather combat boots, a brown mask, and a bearskin hood and cloak, but the most notable thing was the twin dirks hanging on his belt. He drew the blades and leapt into the air with a roar. Kelly covered his ears and Zoe transformed into Heartless, shooting the person down with a lightening bolt. He fell to the ground, trying to get up, only to get hit by another one.

"I got it!" The man looked up at her, seething,

"How many of those do you have?!" Heartless flipped him off,

"As many as it takes. Who the fuck are you?" Heartless changed back and Adrien walked over to help him up, but bad luck is a curse and the man jumped up with incredible speed and took the cursed boy at knifepoint.

"Disarm or he dies." And then the man's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell backwards, unconscious. Hana was hiding behind Eden, even though she was the taller one. Kelly leaned on the Gummi ship for support.

"Dad…" Eden asked, "Did you do that?"

"Yeah." Emilie grabbed a stick and poked the large man, to get no response.

"Is he dead? Did you suck his soul?" Kelly walked over, removing the Miraculous from the man's wrist, causing him to change back.

He was roughly 6'4, had shoulder-length brown hair that looked like it hadn't been brushed in a couple of days, broad shoulders, sea green eyes, and a very muscular build.

The Miraculous was a dark brown, almost black, leather slip-on band about half an inch thick with a small metal disc embedded on the top.

Kelly checked his pulse, "He's alive. I seemed to have locked his mind."

"Can you fix him?" Felix asked.

"Yup. But I think we should take precautions. Eden, can you make some rope?"

A bear-themed kwami appeared, and Blazze rushed into a hug.

"Viirus!" The two kwamis hugged, "I missed you!" Viirus looked down at the man,

"I take it the superpowered girl is yours. Please don't hurt mine." Blazze nodded,

"Of course, brother." Zoe turned,

"Brother? Kwamis have siblings?"

"We always come in pairs." Blazze explained, "Tikki and Plagg, Nooroo and Duusu, Trixx and Wayzz, me and Viirus. I sent him to this world when Mara went on a rampage. Tikki said we could handle it, but I disagreed." Kelly draped the man every his back to drag him into the Impala,

"What's his name?"

"Jared. Jared Brock. He's the best wielder I've had." Blazze looked to where Eden was creating enchanted chains to bind him.

"They won't hurt him unless in self-defense." She promised. "The chains are to make sure he doesn't hurt us." Viirus looked at him,

"Okay…"

OoOoO

It took three hours for Kelly to get halfway done reversing the damage. His powers were getting stronger and there was still the possibility of severe damage. Locking away his mind was putting a password on something and forgetting said password, and having no way of retrieving it; except the thing with the lock was memories, basic human functions, personality, the whole enchilada. If Kelly couldn't fix the damage, everything that made him Jared was gone.

Kelly worked for hours tirelessly. He had taken to pulling a Namine and drawing in a sketchbook, everything that he saw, so he could fix it. It helped that he was a really good artist.

He was currently drawing them.

"What are you doing?" Zoe asked,

"Writing us into his memory." Kelly responded, "So I don't need to do any explaining to him. He won't be friends with us, that would be too suspicious, but he won't hurt us. We're positive acquaintances."

"Then why is he still tied up?" Viirus asked.

"To make sure he doesn't attack us. Zo, you and he could be friends, he's a lot like Dean Winchester."

"So he will appreciate the Impala. That's good. Ya gonna wake him up?" Kelly nodded,

"Almost…"

"Please tell me you haven't been simply altering memories for three hours." Hana said.

"No. This has been happening for two minutes and fifteen seconds. If I wanted him to be besties, it would take another ten whole minutes. But he has friends, like Kagami and Gina, people who won't take well to a drastic personality change. All I'm doing is making him a tad bit more willing to listen. He will wake up in three…two…"

Jared opened his eyes. It wasn't groggy, almost like someone waking up from a nightmare. He didn't notice the people in the ship, just immediately tried to break free of his chains, and once he realized he was unable to, he surveyed his surroundings, before his eyes landed on Zoe,

"Zoe?" He frowned, "Why is your name familiar?"

"We met a while back."

"And why am I chained up?"

"Because you tried to kill us. No more, no less." Eden leaned on the wall of the Impala, "We haven't been here before, and are in need of a guide."

"You chain me up and now asking me to be your guide? Thanks but no thanks. What the hell are you guys even doing here? And you all certainly got an upgrade. Are you working for Ladybug?"

"No." Adrien drawled, "The only Ladybug I care for is my Ladybug, not the one you deal with. There are two. We all have powers because we either have a Miraculous like you, or they have powers."

Jared seemed to notice Eden, and smiled a little in a flirtatious manner, but one look from Zoe made his gaze turn to her and become spiteful.

"Fine." He said begrudgingly, "I'll take you to the base. But the second you even breathe wrong and I will kill you."

"You can try." Zoe said calmly, "But fine." She flicked her wrist and the chains unbound from the chair, but remained on his wrists and the ends clasped into her hand, "No matter how strong you are, you can't take me down."

"Zoe. Calm down." Kelly assured, "He won't hurt us. He's telling the truth. This isn't necessary. And for the record, him being docile is thanks to me." Zoe looked and saw Jared's eyes were clouded.

"Maybe we should stop fucking with this boy's mind." Emilie suggested, "Before someone turns him into a darkling by accident, because I assume Kelly can do that."

"I can." He answered, "But I have morals." He shrugged and Jared woke up. Zoe released the chains,

"Okie. Lead the way, Winchester." She turned, "Han, stay with the Impala, she's delicate." Jared brightened a tiny bit,

"The Impala? Winchester? You've seen _Supernatural_."

"Who hasn't?" Was all Zoe said, "This is our ship, and I have named it such. And you are tall, and you have the hair to rival Sampunzel. And your name is Jared, so I will call you Winchester, and you won't fight me." Strangely, that of all things that was what made Jared's look of desire to kill go down and actually got a laugh out of him.

"Fine. Come on, the base is this way." Kelly took his sketchbook and a pencil as they walked.

Felix walked up to Jared, holding a small revolver, "Mr. Winchester, how much farther?" Jared paused, looking down at the child, noticing him for the first time—though the child was a third of his size, so it was understandable. Felix blinked innocently, and Jared turned to Zoe,

"Huh. I told Ladybug once that I wouldn't be shocked if I saw a genius toddler, fully developed speech pattern and all, after seeing her hideous mug. Did _not_ think I was predicting the future." Zoe shrugged,

"This is my son, Felix. We're here because his Dad is in danger."

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen—oh! You think he's my biological child! No. No. There was an incident involving a doll and an assassin and suddenly this little one takes me for his mother and my love, Eli, for his father." Felix giggled at the look of confusion on Jared's face.

"And you've been raising him."

"Yeah. With my family obviously."

"Guys. We have company." Kelly said. Once those words left his mouth, a figure appeared at a superhuman speed, but Eden threw her hand out and froze the figure in the air.

She wore an orange mask with a black bottom half. Two orange fox ears with white insides, black tips, and black edges were attached to the top of her head. The top layer of her suit, akin to an overcoat, was orange with a black front, a black swan-necked collar, and black arms and gloves up to the middle of her upper arms. The overcoat layer attached down the vertical front center with a zipper. The overcoat also had a long fox tail-like coattail that ends a bit below her knees at a sharp black tip. The bottom layer of her suit was orange with a black center on the front of the body and black legs starting at a point in the middle of her upper legs. She also wore black boots with orange soles.

Jared snatched his Miraculous from where Emilie had been keeping it in her bag and transformed. Kelly frowned,

"Huh. Hello Rena Rouge!" Goreclaw—as Kelly explained the superhero name was—pulled out his knives at the name, growling. Kelly frowned as Rena Rouge flopped over, "Do you want me to rewire her or…"

Goreclaw grabbed the collapsed woman by the throat, before turning to Kelly, "You can do that? Not that I don't want to kill this asshole, just asking."

"Yeah. I can do that. Almost did it to you on accident. But with some time, I could rewrite her. She won't wake up for three hours or until I fix the damage I just did. Rephrase, she can't wake up because I just password protected her brain and didn't tell her said password."

"And that just got you some scans." Goreclaw said, "If you aren't working with Ladybug, how the hell can you do that?"

"My kwami died at the hands of Mara and got absorbed into my being."

"Lovely." He said sarcastically, "I was about to ask if you were drinking demon blood. You better not turn me into Season 6 Sam with your mind power." Zoe genuinely laughed with Adrien. Eden rolled her eyes and Felix cocked his head in confusion alongside Emilie.

"A surprising number of people have called me Crowley. Queen of Hell, bitch…not referring to Lilith. I guess that would make my Dad be Rowena." Kelly shrugged,

"I'm down with that."

"Ergo," Zoe continued, "I can't be the one to have _taken_ your soul, just use it as leverage to get Dean to do what I want after getting promoted from punk ass crossroads demon." Goreclaw detransformed and Jared looked impressed.

"You definitely binge watched."

"Yeah. And I have a photographic memory. And how much farther? My feet are hurting and am starving!" Jared shoved Rena in a bag.

"North. And the fact y'all took down one of Ladybug's minions with barely a thought makes me both suspicious and reluctantly grateful. I'll get information and then kill her."

"Fine by me." Zoe looked at the dangerous-looking hill that looked empty. They needed to go down it. She looked to Adrien.

"Kitty, I am so sorry." He was about to ask what for when she shoved him down the hill, which was actually smart, because his bad luck power set off every single trap, but gravity kept him out of the traps.

Jared looked at her in both parts bemusement and bitter amusement.

They went down the hill to find Adrien had crashed into a tree, and was clutching his ankle, fighting back tears.

"Bitch!" He flipped Zoe off, "My ankle is crippled now because of you!" Jared bent down and examined the swelling limb,

"It's broken. Put a cast on it and you will be fine."

"Excuse me!" Adrien snapped, "You aren't the one literally cursed with bad luck! Watch." He took a gun from Zoe and moved to fire it at a tree, only for Eden to freeze time for him as the gun literally went to fire backwards.

"That's not bad luck." Jared said, "That's bullshit."

"Like the exact opposite of Nagito Komaeda. Bullshit powers of luck for him, bad luck for Adrien." Jared let himself laugh a little and threw Adrien over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Put me down!" Emilie walked up to him,

"Adrien, you shouldn't walk with a broken ankle."

"I know. But what if I—"

"Calm your fucking tits, Adrien." Eden drawled, still holding her new favorite toy—Maescia's hand, which she had stuffed—but a hand could only handle her hormone-induced bloodlust for so long. Thank the gods her cycle should be over the next day.

OoOoO

They were on the base now. It was long after dark, so long after it was almost dawn the next fucking day. Namely because Jared was tripping over literally everything while carrying Adrien. It wasn't that they boy was heavy, but he was cursed with bad luck….and also infected anyone he came into contact with for long periods of time. Marinette, Zoe, Kelly and the family were unaffected because they were smart and used a magical immunity.

At this moment, they were being X-Rayed, and then put in a holding room. Kelly was in a seperate room with all sorts of things hooked up to his brain. It turned out Jared's Team—though the only two they had seen were Gina and Kagami—was fascinated with the power and wanted to observe his brain activity while he saved Alya Cesaire from Ladybug's influence.

Kagami was going over the scans while watching Kelly through a one-way mirror.

"Jared, you need to see this." Jared walked over, tripping over a wire and knocking over a glass of water onto one of the computers.

"Shit. I think that boy did something to me with his curse. Anyway, what is it?" Kagami held up the scans,

"So magic doesn't appear on scans like these, due to how rare it is. But it appears the toddler and the Carpenter family can use 100% of their brain capacity and then some. The woman, Emilie, is completely normal and Adrien _appears_ normal, but there are slight tells of something more."

"I figured that out by watching them with my own two eyes. What's so special other than Special Child, Ansen Weems, in there." He pointed to Kelly. Special Child referred to children to whom the demon Azazel fed his blood when they were babies, having snuck into their homes after making a deal with their parents. Supernatural reference. Ansem Weems was one of three with the power of mind control, but the one with the most honed skill of it.

Kagami looked up, "The girl, Zoe. She's pregnant. Seems to be 22 weeks."

"So?" He hadn't expected that exactly, but it wasn't like he cared. Her choice, her funeral.

"_So_ maybe put her in a guest room and get her some food instead of the cold holding room. And I swear, we need to put Adrien in a bubble, because he already caused the bars to break three times. And Kelly said another hour or so and Alya will be back to herself."

Gina came in, brushing back a strand of ginger hair, "Hey, pregnant one is complaining very loudly. Something tells me she's gonna get violent if the one cuddling a hand has any tell. I would go down there, but Jared seems to be infected by the curse already." Jared groaned,

"I'll handle it."

He walked down to the holding cell, "Zoe, come on. Taking ya somewhere else."

"Where are you taking Mama?" Felix asked, "I want to go too!"

"Nope. Come on." Zoe bent down and kissed Felix's forehead.

"I'll be back soon, sugar." She ruffled his hair and walked out of the cell with him, "So…where am I going and why? And can I have my fucking guns back." He had taken them all and she was bitter about that.

"Maybe. Why should I trust you?"

"Good god, don't." Zoe responded, "Never trust anyone." He looked down at her,

"And yet you managed to get yourself pregnant." She looked up, startled.

"What? Are you high?! I'm not pregnant!" Jared pulled out the X-Ray, only to stumble and drop it in the incinerator. He swore colorfully. But Zoe had seen part of the scan and saw the fetus that was in her stomach.

She fainted.

Now, that was not what Jared expected at all. Judging by the fact she was halfway through the pregnancy and _clearly_ showed for it, he was shocked. She didn't seem to have hurt herself, though he checked her over to be sure, namely because her father could potentially kill everyone with a thought. She was fine.

The only reasons he was remotely gentle when he carried her to the guest room was because she was expecting, and her father was probably the only being that actually scared him with the way he could completely rewire minds.

He threw a blanket on her and walked out of the room, only for the whole building to begin shaking and became filled with wretched screams.

While that was happening

Felix felt the exact moment his mother lost consciousness. She didn't fall asleep, she just collapsed. And he blamed the hulking man for that. He must have hurt her.

He needed to find her. So he did what any seventeen month-old would do. He screamed.

The scream was primal. It had a raw intensity to it that told of urgency, of desperate need. Human brains didn't evolve in environments where there was the safety of walls, cribs and cuddly toys. All Felix knew was that his Mama was nowhere close, she was in danger, and he was as scared as an adult would be in the forest at night.

Emilie tried to calm him down, but gasped when she saw his irises were molten gold, almost like fire. Behind him was the shadow of wings.

The bars once again blasted open, only this time it took the wall with it. Emilie dove at Eden and Adrien, shielding them with her body. When she looked back, Felix was gone.

"Felix!"

Felix meanwhile, was looking around the building, grabbing Zoe's things from a locked closet. The ginger woman walked down the hall, pausing when she saw him,

"How did you get out?" She asked curiously, then rolled her eyes, "Did Adrien's bad luck curse break the bars again?" Felix responded by throwing his hands out and sending her flying backwards. She wasn't dead, just stunned.

"Where is Mama?" He asked, walking up to her, holding fire in his hands.

"Kid, chill. She's in a guest room down the hall and to the left." She massaged her temples, trying to figure out what was going on.

The whole building shook in the toddler's rage. But everything went quiet when Felix opened the door and saw his darling mother curled up on a soft bed, fast asleep.

"Mama!" His eyes changed back to blue and the wings vanished from his shadow. He giggled and climbed up onto the bed with her, checking to make sure she was okay. Once he was certain she was unharmed, he snuggled up with her and fell asleep.

Jared, Kagami and Gina started at the child in horror. Nobody saying a word.

To the surprise of nobody, it was Jared to break the silence.

"If nobody is going to say anything, then I will. What the fuck was that!?"

OoOoO

Molara shivered as she walked through the barren icy tundra that was her elder sister's kingdom. Macy was the only one other than Morrigan that would understand her pain right now, one of her favorite sisters. But why the hell did she decide to like in this frozen wasteland? Molara had no idea. She needed her sister's help, and just hoped things were the same between them as they had been twenty years prior.

She continued to walk until she found Macy's ice palace.

The entire palace was centered around the hexagonal shape of a snowflake. A flawless staircase led to double doors which could open by themselves into the palace.

She knocked on the door and it opened, allowing her in.

The first room had a beautiful frozen ice fountain, also a small crystal hung in the center of roof and two curving staircases along the sides joined together on a platform above and across from the entrance.

"Molara? What are you doing here?" Molara looked up and saw her sister looking down at her, smiling broadly.

Macy had tan skin and bright teal eyes. She had mint-colored hair that she wore in a bun pulled from either side of her head and up from the end, she had a side parting and wore her fringe on the right side of her head, with the other side pulled back into the bun. She had a few stray hairs that hung in front of her ears.

Her dress was stunning. She wore a beautiful floor-length, silk, ice-blue gown. It had a slight sweetheart neckline with white lace lining it. The neckline of the back of the gown was square shaped. The sleeves for the gown were short and tight. There was a white lining for the waist and skirt also.

"Macy!" She beamed, "You look amazing!" Macy nodded,

"I know. It has been a long time." Molara climbed up the stairs,

"Sis…Mother has truly gone insane. She's devoted herself to killing Amelia's son. She even killed an innocent woman! I can't be near her anymore! And I know she hates coming to the ice worlds."

Macy nodded, "Eli's soul. I have a box. But I think you should know why I did. Come on."

The second floor had multiple rooms, and Macy opened a door and Molara gasped.

The little boy moved like his knees were just hinges, wobbling to and fro before falling on his padded bottom. Then he clapped like it was all part of the plan and rolled to his stomach to get up again. He was asian looking and cute as hell. He was dressed in a navy onesie and a baby beanie that highlighted his jet-black hair and grey eyes. Around his shoulders was his baby quilt, worn as a cape might be, as if all those cosy memories of him and mother gave him superpowers. He had eyes that shined like pebbles washed by the ocean waves and a smile that ignited inner laughter in all who saw.

"Meet Gavin." Macy said sadly, picking up the little boy who giggled and hugged her, "My son."

"How old is he?"

"Four. But you know as well as I do that if Mother finds out he exists, she will have him killed." Molara nodded,

"So…what are you going to do?"

"I was just gonna hide here." Macy said, rocking her son, "But once Maescia came and gave me that piece, and then you showed up, I was thinking I should help the good side. And no matter what comes of me, I can protect my son."

Molara nodded, "Okay…so we are agreed. But mother will find us unless—"

"Do you need this, Mommy?" Gavin asked, holding up both of their birth certificates. Macy nodded and tickled her son's chin, earning a delightful squeal from the child.

"That's exactly what we needed, snowflake. Run along and get yourself some cocoa as a congratulations for harnessing your powers!" Gavin ran off happily and Macy sat on the floor with her sister.

"We need to destroy these." She said, "We have our names, but once the birth certificate with our names is destroyed, the Recrusent Sigil will break and Mother won't be able to track us. The problem is, it's warded by the Old Religion."

"Then use the New Religion." Molara answered. There were three Religions: the Old, the New, and the Modern. The Modern was all the things like Christianity, Hinduism, stuff like that. The first two were magic oriented.

Macy beamed, "Perfect." She held both certificates up and recited a spell in Old English, "Sw¯æfaneucharist sôðhweðere oferfeohtan ðone as hagorûn." Both certificates incinerated in her hands and turned to ash within seconds.

Molara sighed in relief, "Where is the box?" Macy went into a back room and pulled it out.

"We need it. We'll use it to prove we are good to Eli's family. Hear that Eli?" She rattled the box and it glowed violet.

"I don't know what the hell you all are saying." Eli's voice said, "But I won't fight you on it because you seem to be on our side." Macy chuckled,

"Good." She walked out and grabbed Gavin,

"Come on, snowflake. We're gonna go see our family. The good ones."

Molara sighed in relief a she watched her sister go. Finally things were looking up for her.

**A/N: So Felix has demon power, and two of the witches are going to the good side. Next chapter will either be more of Blight, having the two witches meet Gabriel and Harrison, or both. **

**And remember to please review and feed the author kwami, to whom is dying of starvation.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: Adventures in Decent Parenting**

This was not what he expected.

Since Natalie and Emilie were the ones who took care of Adrien when he was a baby, and Gabriel knew nothing of baby care, he thought it would be busy, not hard.

Oh boy was he wrong.

All the books he read on the subject while Elaine slept said that parenthood was a wonderful adventure, and while single parenthood was harder, it was still fun. But these books were written by experienced mothers, like the ones with eight kids. They knew the routine.

A wealthy fashion designer definitely did not.

Because everyone was gone other than Harrison—who had his own adventurous son to worry about—Gabriel took it upon himself to be the best father Elaine could ask for. He prayed Kelly didn't come along and steal his thunder as well as his ex-wife.

Maybe this would be easier if Elaine didn't have powers.

According to Harrison after researching, she was an Empath, meaning she could feel emotions, and with practice would be able to influence people. And she was psychic, meaning a telekinetic as well. So fun going to check on her in her bouncy chair after getting a meeting done, only to find objects floating around and getting destroyed. Can you tell he was being sarcastic?

And god fucking damnit, she was a foodie like Zoe. He was trying to eat his lunch in peace. Elaine had other plans.

She started to bounce up and down in her high chair, her eyes wide and mouth already partly open. She thought the soup was for her. When the first spoon went to Gabriel's mouth, she had a slightly crestfallen look, but then started her celebratory bounce again as the spoon went back to the can. It came out with a lump of chicken and she actually clapped his hands, mouth now as wide as she could get it without swallowing the whole room. What could he do? Gabriel sighed, grabbing her another spoon and she clamped her lips around it.

So that's how it was, one for him and one for her until it was all gone.

Elaine was small for a six-month old. Six. Months. Old. She was two weeks old! Kelly said age-jumping would regulate around five, but her smarts would be far past her age. This explained why she was already crawling.

Before Elaine came along, Gabriel had a picture in his head as to what her bedtimes would be: a bath, warm milk with a story, teeth and tucked up with a teddy. Elaine was as stubborn as her father if not worse, and she had other ideas.

She just wasn't the type to wind down slowly. Everything she did was with maximum effort and she crawled, played and hollered like there were no limits to her energy until she "popped." After her five minute screaming session she went limp, crashing. It was all she could do to cooperate with a quick tooth-brushing and he got out the first two lines of the story before she was away with the fairies.

He couldn't love the little girl more if he tried, but she was either "on" or "off" and nothing in-between.

OoOoO

Gabriel had bags under his eyes and was holding one of Zoe's mugs. Which one? He had no idea. She had the "Cunt" and the "Dick" mug, using the first letter as a handle and printing the other letters onto said mug. Elaine was working him into the ground. And he was out of Zoe's disguise makeup!

Elaine loved the park and looking at all the things, but Gabriel didn't want people talking to him as a celebrity, so he used Zoe's disguise makeup and took his "Keith" persona, so he didn't have to make his daughter be a shut in. She liked raspberry ice cream with chocolate chips.

Dausi and Connor were in Hawaii on their honeymoon—translation: fucking to their hearts' content. Everyone had bets on how long until there were little mer-shapeshifter babies coming.

But this meant Gabriel was completely and utterly alone handling his magical daughter. Eli had become like Rapunzel, insistent to leave and explore, only unlike the movie, the threat was real and Eli was insisting it was bullshit. This meant Harrison was doing everything to keep his occupied, more impressively than even Scott Lang from _Ant-Man and the Wasp_ trying to entertain his ten year old daughter while on house arrest.

Gabriel made a mental note to see if magic card tricks entertained Elaine.

There was a knock at the door.

"Harry! Can you please check to see who that is. I just got Elaine to sleep in the bouncy chair." He called Harrison, who was building more things in the office using missiles.

Harrison came out and opened the door, only to jump back with a shriek and pull out a rather fancy-looking gun. Gabriel peaked around the corner and saw two women and a baby. Why this bother his newfound friend was a mystery,

"Macy?! Molara?!" Harrison got closer with the gun, "What the hell are you doing here?!" The tan woman held up a black box,

"Harry, you know full well that Lara and I won't hurt you. We want to help you." Gabriel wasn't convinced and called Kelly, who had a bunch of things attached to his head for some reason.

_"__Yah?"_

"Two women just came. Macy and Molara. Harry is ready to shoot them and they claim to want to help."

Kelly nodded thoughtfully,_ "Macy! Lara!"_ Both women looked at him smiling broadly on the phone._ "Long time, no see! I haven't seen you since the wedding!" _He looked back to Gabriel and Harrison, _"They're Amelia's sister. Two of the four good ones. About five more are bloodthirsty, and the other two-hundred give zero fucks."_

Macy put down the little boy, "Where's Eli. We have a little gift for him." Harrison smiled, convinced they weren't working with their mother now,

"Eli! Your aunts are here!" Eli came bouncing down,

"Hello! I remember nothing." Molara laughed, ruffling his hair,

"That's fine. We haven't met. This is the first time I have seen you since Amelia sent me that Christmas card when you weren't even a year old. Puberty was very kind to you." Eli grinned, looking at the box,

"What's that?"

"A piece of your memory. Open it." Eli opened the box and the violet orb flew into his chest, before he turned to Harrison with a huge smile on his face,

"Dad! I remember you!" Gabriel smiled, wishing Adrien would hug him like that.

They were at "Father" stage, in which they weren't estranged, but not a healthy father and son. So basically after Emilie was lost but before Adrien hated his guts. Hug stage wasn't gonna be for a while, especially with Adrien off on adventures.

Molara got on her knees at Gabriel's feet.

"Sir…please forgive me. I tried to stop mother from killing your lover, but I couldn't succeed. I will do anything I can to atone." Gabriel bent down to meet her gaze,

"It's not your fault. To say it's your fault would be saying that it's Emilie's fault I became Hawk Moth, like she wanted me to be." Molara looked up, her black dress falling around her. He knew she was genuinely sorry, he could see it in her eyes, eyes that were just like Adrien's.

"Thank you."

"But if you want to do something for me," he gestured to Elaine, "Please teach me how to raise a magical baby."

Macy turned from where she was drinking tea with Harrison and Eli. The little boy looked up at her, but didn't speak.

"Gavin, can you help Gabriel with his daughter." Gavin nodded meekly and walked over to Elaine, who was looking at him curiously.

"H-Hello…" Macy sighed at how nervous he was.

"Warlocks are killed by our mother, as I assume you know, Harrison and Eli. So I have raised him in an icy tundra with no human interaction and taught him to fear. I was hoping mother would reap what she sewed by now, but I wasn't so lucky. He's a nice boy."

Gavin took Elaine out of the bouncy chair and she sat up to look at him, thinking his beanie was a fascinating toy. She laughed, waving her hands,

"Hi!" Gavin smiled shyly and a nice stuffed princess doll appeared in his hands. He gave it to her and Elaine squealed in glee, hugging him. She crawled over to Gabriel to show off her toy.

It was an Elsa doll. Gabriel fought every ounce of his being that wanted to laugh, because when Eli got his memory back, he was going to flip the fuck out. Every since the "Frozen Incident," Eli was not only terrified of all things snow and ice, he also detested the movie with every fiber of his being, and naturally got mocked by all people who knew the context behind it. And if anyone asked him about why he had streaks of white in his hair, he literally did everything he could to change the subject. Just wait until his baby was born and he needed to answer that question.

This Eli still had amnesia though, so that wasn't yet a problem. He frowned, looking at his father,

"So that threat is real! I thought you were lying!"

"And I told you I was not." Harrison replied with a laugh. Elaine and Gavin were playing dolls, and while both could talk, Elaine had her own baby language and Gavin was practically mute.

And then Elaine was gone.

"Woah." Molara jumped, "Where did she go?!" Gabriel immediately called Kelly,

"Yeah? I'm a little busy rewiring memories here in exchange for donuts. Apparently Felix has demon power and we are trying to figure it out."

"Okay. Not gonna question that." Gabriel responded, "But Elaine just vanished into thin air!"

Kelly laughed, _"Teleporting now? Yeah. That happens to all magical babies, they have a teleporting phase. Zoe was everywhere and nowhere at the same time when she was Elaine's age. Find her using those pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, I taught Zoe to bake them because the ingredients actually form a tracking spell in the form of a cookie."_

"That's…" Macy frowned, "Actually kind of genius."

_"__Thank you. Got to go, Gina just got infected by Adrien's curse and is tripping over things. Jared is trying to figure out what the hell Felix is, and is namely binging _Supernatural_ with Zoe because that's the best we've got, and blaring heavy metal. So good luck." _The screen went black. Gabriel grinned, going into his room and pulling out a secret jar of Zoe's cookies, because those things were phenomenal.

"Elaine? I have cookies! Come on out!" Elaine appeared on the ground at his feet and reached for the cookie, still holding her doll. He laughed a little, picking he up, "There you are. I was worried." Elaine took the cookie and started gumming at it because she didn't have teeth yet, fortunately the cookies were warm and soft enough that it was easy for the thing to be eaten still. She clapped once the cookie was finished.

"Pwincess!" She held out her doll. He went back down with her,

"Want me to play with you?" Elaine beamed, happy that he understood. So he did play with her. Harrison was taking pictures, as you do.

"You know," he said, "Gabriel has grown a lot. He used to be a legendary asshole, and now look at him." The witches smiled in agreement. Eli took to playing with the children too, and Gavin was becoming a tiny bit more comfortable, allowing himself to smile—please remember this kid was four years old, so this was unbefitting a normal child.

Eli turned, "Dad! Can we go to the park?" Gabriel sighed,

"I have nothing to hide my identity." Molara shrugged.

"I'm a master at distractor spells. I can make sure they don't recognize you. Not that you look like a famous rich man right now." It was true. He was in a wheelchair, hair wasn't gelled, had stubble, and he was wearing sweats.

"Okay. Let's go then. Wait…don't you both have that sigil that Kelly warned us about."

"Already handled it." Macy responded, picking up her son, "Snowflake, it's okay. Nobody is going to hurt you. You're safe."

"I don't want the bad lady to find me." He said, hugging her neck. Macy stroked his hair,

"She won't. I promise. We'll be careful, but the bad lady is probably busy right now." Gavin started crying, shaking. Gabriel knew that ten years prior, he would have given anything for Adrien to be like that. "It's okay, snowflake."

Gabriel moved over to the little boy, "How about we go to the bakery belonging to my future daughter-in-law and her family. They are the nicest people you will find, and they would protect you. And they would give you free treats." Gavin looked at him as Gabriel put Elaine in the baby carrier. He smiled nervously,

"Okay." He was barely a whisper. Gabriel smiled,

"Good."

OoOoO

After a very eventful day, they had barely succeeded in getting Gavin to interact with people. Tom terrified him, Marinette had been sewing with a needle, and that caused him to cry, Sabine was fine though.

Gabriel had been just about to fall asleep when he heard a loud shriek from Gavin's room. He immediately jumped out of bed and grabbed the pistol with Phoenix Ash bullets that Kelly had given him for the intent of killing witches. How he had gotten them was a mystery.

He took some of the emergency instant pain killer—Kelly was either a nice demon or a trickster angel sent from heaven—and ran to Gavin's room, tearing the door off its hinges, only to find Gavin holding his pillow, shaking with fear.

"Gavin? Are you okay?" Gavin looked up at him, before bursting into tears,

"T-The bad lady got me again!" Gabriel sat down with him, as he continued talking, "I dream of the future…she got me! I don't want her to get me!" Gabriel held him.

"It's okay…" He smiled, "The future isn't what you see, it's what you choose it to me. A very wise young woman told me that once. I didn't listen to her, but she was right." Gavin looked up with wide eyes.

"Really?" Gabriel nodded,

"I'm going to tell you a story. Wanna hear it?" Gavin nodded and held his stuffed polar bear. Gabriel walked out and grabbed some warm cookies from the oven, and some milk.

"Once Upon a Time, there was a Moth, a Peacock, and a Kitten. The Moth and the Peacock loved each other very much and loved their kitten equally much so. But one day, the Peacock got very sick, and the Moth went mad trying to bring her back, and did terrible things. And the Kitten was not a Cat, and he worked with a Ladybug, but eventually, the Moth was too hard to beat, and The Guardian brought a young Dragon. This Dragon was originally an extreme annoyance to the Moth, and the best friend of the Cat, but the Moth eventually saw her as his best friend, and she showed him the error of his ways."

"So the Moth became good?" Gavin asked, and Gabriel sighed,

"Not quite. You see, in that same time, the Cat had grown to deeply hate the Moth in secret. But when the Dragon went on a quest to save her Mockingjay, the Moth found out about his son's hatred and fell into despair, and accidentally made a deal with an evil Witch, and that almost killed his son, turning his precious kitten into a monster." Gavin gasped.

"You mean like that horror movie, _Pet Semetery_? They don't come back right." Gabriel had gone to the premiere of the remake with Zoe, and he could easily understand the reference and how it worked with Adrien becoming a Darkling. He was still unable to not be paranoid when alone in his bedroom around the bed, especially under it.

"The Cat wasn't dead, the love between father and son was dead, but yeah. Pretty much."

"How did the story end?" Gabriel knew he couldn't tell this innocent boy how the story really ended, so he went with what he hoped would be how it ended,

"The Dragon came back, and she saved the Cat, and the Moth learned to be a good guy. In the end, they defeated the evil Witch, and they all had happy families. The Witch had told them it was Destiny for them to fall, but they proved her wrong an thrived. They also may or may not have turned her into a piñata." Gavin giggled, and Gabriel used a pillow, playfully bopping him on the head, "Like this," and then the little warlock giggled in delight as Gabriel started tickling him,

This was how he should have parented Adrien, and he would make up for it with this little boy. Gabriel took the cookies and swept Gavin up,

"Come on, wanna go watch a show with me. Those cookies will keep you up and the pain killer I used is like strong coffee. But you may need to…" he pretended to be sleepy, "carry me upstairs." Gavin laughed,

"Can you be my Daddy figure? My Daddy died." Gabriel was taken aback by that altogether.

"Um…okay? I guess I need a do-over at parenting. Elaine is finally asleep, so we need to be quiet." Gavin put a tiny finger to his lips, smiling. All it took were some cookies, a story, and some cartoons. Turned out Zoe was right, the best way to someone's heart was food.

They ended up watching that old cartoon,_ Wonder Pets_. And Gabriel knew he would have all the songs stuck in his head forever.

Macy, Molara and Harrison had been watching him the entire time.

Macy put a blanket over her son and Gabriel, who were both fast asleep with an episode playing in the background. Gavin still had a cookie partially in his mouth.

"Would you look at that." Macy said with a smile, "After all this time, Gabriel Agreste was the one to calm my son down after a vision."

Molara giggled, "Looks like he really does make a good babysitter. And we will make an even better father if he doesn't keep spoiling them with cookies."

"Kelly's cookie recipe is literally magical." Harrison responded, yawning, "Well witches might not sleep, but I do. Good night."

"We do too sleep." Macy snapped, "And I was just checking on my screaming son. But he is fine now, fast asleep with Uncle Gabriel, so I am going back to bed."

Molara looked down at the two sleeping people, "I'll make breakfast in the kitchen downstairs."

"It's one in the morning." Macy said.

"I haven't slept since Gabriel's love died." Molara responded, "I need to distract myself." Macy shrugged, letting her long hair fall down her back,

"Suit yourself. I like black espresso." She walked upstairs and Molara walked downstairs.

**A/N: This chapter was just straight fluff and more introduction of Gavin Blackwell. Next chapter is back with Zoe and the team.**

**Eli soul count - 6/13, aka 46%**

**Remember to feed the author kwami!**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: RIP Cheeto the Author Kwami. Cause of Death - Starvation.**

**But worry not! The Author Kwami can return with reviews!**

**Chapter 14: A secret wedding in her dreams**

Jared was watching Kelly, and Kelly was watching him. It was a one-way mirror, and yet it seemed the man knew his every motion.

"I'm not a demon." Kelly said calmly, "It isn't less dangerous to be out there than in a room with me." Jared jumped in surprise a little, and Kelly pointed to his head, "I can hear you thinking. I'm not going to discuss things with you unless I can see you."

Jared groaned and went into the room, taking in all of the drawings around the room of various people and their memories, before one caught his eye.

A familiar girl, thirteen or fourteen. She was a wearing black polyester bodysuit that turned into more of a tank-top at the shoulders, showing off her skin, which was an unnatural shiny, scaly pale red. She also sported two thin black antenna on top of her head, each about two feet in length. Her irises were a crimson red and letting off a faint glow. Kelly really outdid himself with that drawing, but…

"When did you see Ladybug?" Kelly turned from where he was organizing the pictures per person.

"In everyone's minds. I simply followed the chain. It seems she even turns her own allies. She also wants your head, but I know you know that. She is a freaky thing, which is saying a lot since I have met the alternate version of her on another world."

"I am not sure what I should respond to first in what you just said. Alternate people? Other worlds? You have been in Ladybug's head?!" Kelly shrugged,

"Yes to all of those things. Ladybug's real name is Marinette. Adrien is proof of it, because the other version of him works for Ladybug. I could get the two side by side to prove it." Jared felt the moment Kelly stopped the severe mindfuck because he wasn't trying to hide it. But there was still the last question,

"You were inside Ladybug's head…and you did nothing?!"

"Why would I? You haven't brought her to me to rewire, and I'm done working for free. One of the many things my eldest and I have in common is that we are mercenaries who work for nobody by ourselves. That and I'm out of energy and am close to a burnout, so unless you want to deal with me so deeply unconscious I'm practically in a coma, I need to recharge."

"So you need sleep?"

"That, and food and something of my choosing." Jared just sighed,

"I will give you anything, within reason—don't you even try the freaky mind voodoo—for you to kill Ladybug and make her suffer, and kill her followers."

"So you won't care about donuts for me and the others—namely my pregnant daughter—and I get bragging rights over you. And you must help us on our own quest."

"Sleep, donuts, bragging right, and some help?"

"Yeah." He was still drawing nonchalantly,

"Who are you drawing now?"

"Viperion, I think. The drawings work almost like a save point, so I can still find them, even if I have broken the chain." Jared's eyes widened. Nobody had ever seen Viperion before, and this random man did it with zero issue.

Then he noticed Kelly was bleeding, the rather nasty nose bleed, before collapsing completely.

A normal person would pause for a moment upon seeing someone just start bleeding and faint, but Jared was a warrior, so he immediately started checking for damage. Kelly looked at him through half-lidded eyes,

"Okay. What number are you?" _Stranger Things_ reference. Nose bleed after using their powers was trademark. He checked both of the mage's wrists for a number, and was bitterly disappointed to not find one.

"It's done…" Kelly responded, "And I don't have a number…I just burned myself out…just need a little sleep, idjit…" He passed out, and Jared put him on the bed, deciding to leave him be and hope for the best. He wasn't a doctor.

But he did need to keep his word and go help on that quest, so he went to find Zoe, and found her eating all the food in the fridge.

"Get away from the food! That is for all of us!" Zoe flipped him off,

"Bitch, I am eating for two, and I saw what you ate last night." She shrugged, "But I guess I should repay you so…" she pulled out a gallon bag of…something that could be meat but also was extremely expired, "Here. Have some zombie flesh."

"What the fuck?! NO! Why do you even have that?!"

"Because it feeds you. So if you have _enough_ zombie flesh, you can stay alive. Jesus, you are as squeamish as Adrien."

"I think that is a terrible idea. Like drinking vampire blood." He threw the bag in the trash, not noticing Zoe teleport it back to her bag, "So your Dad just collapsed after killing all of my enemies. Something about a burnout. Should we be worried? And by any chance did he open the gate to the Upside Down?" Zoe shook her head, giggling at the reference,

"He'll sleep like the dead, then be up at five in the morning. All he needs is sleep, coffee, and….that's about it. Food. He's gonna need food. And I need _this_ food and to find out what's going on with my son." She took the pizza and walked to Kagami, who was looking through books, while Felix was doodling on a paper.

Kagami looked up, "Well, I think _Supernatural_ may be a reality. I'm pretty sure he's a Nephilim." Zoe's eyes widened.

Nephilim were the result of sexual reproduction between a human and an angel occupying a vessel. The Nephilim's grace was what held their human and angel halves in balance and, when they lost it, their two halves come in conflict with each other, causing the Nephilim's body to shut down progressively. The only way to revert that was for the Nephilim to recharge their grace. While grace was an angel's source of power, a Nephilim had their parents Grace mixed with a human soul, causing them to be superior to angels In terms of power. The Nephilim lore stated a Nephilim will eventually become more powerful than the angel that sired them.

"Damnit." Zoe muttered, "Now not only will my son be hunted by angels, I didn't name him Jack!" Were her priorities any good? No. But she had more questions, "Why isn't he like twenty-looking then? And Felix, your middle name is Jack now. I knew it was smart to wait!" Felix Jack Sommers, good enough.

"I would guess you adopted him early enough that he didn't feel the need to, and only when you were in danger did he see a reason to." Felix held up his scribbles,

"Mama! I'm learning to write in Enochian! Kagami is teaching me how!"

"That's great, darling!" She sat down next to her Nephilim child, "What have you written?" Felix looked at the paper and held it up,

"Bah rah gah doh." Kagami flopped over, fast asleep, and Felix's eyes lit up. Now that his hair was dirty blonde, almost brown, he looked like a baby Jack Kline when doing that. She did wonder who his parents were.

Felix smiled, "Mama, did Pops get Mr. Winchester to help save Dada?" Zoe kissed his forehead,

"I don't know. Do you want me to ask?" Felix nodded, crying in a manner that fit his seventeen month old age. This kid wasn't even two yet and already had such a heavy burden.

"I-I don't like it when Dada doesn't remember me!" She held him, stroking his hair,

"He's gonna remember soon. I promise. But at least he's getting better."

"I suppose…" Felix looked up at her, "Why does Regina want him dead? They're family."

"Because Regina is loca en la cabeza." Felix giggled, putting his tiny hands on her stomach.

"I knew there was a baby in your belly. I can feel the heartbeats." He blinked innocently, "Dada is so happy, if not scared to face the wrath of Adri."

She frowned, "He doesn't remember. How would he…"

"His mind is in heaven until his soul is repaired. He's with his Mama, and he knows, I can feel it." She ruffled his hair,

"Well you are my little angel, so I guess you would be the best person to ask."

"Do I want to know?" They turned and saw Jared looked at Kagami, and seeming to have heard their conversation. "I promised Kelly that I would help, but I do need some context before I dive into some likely dangerous shit."

"Okay." Felix crossed his legs, "A witch shattered Dada's soul and scattered the thirteen pieces across the same number of worlds. Two of the nice witches gave us two pieces, so we have six. But Dada doesn't remember anyone other than Grandpa. Mama's gonna have his baby, so we want to get his memory back soon! The piece would be in the most dangerous place on this world."

Jared didn't even ponder the answer for a second, "The Ice Waste."

"I am so glad Eli isn't here." Zoe immediately said, "But what?"

"The Ice Waste. Due to extreme energy fluxes up north, the planet regulated. Antarctica spread, covering about a quarter of the planet. It's harsh, inhospitable terrain that even the most experienced explorers and adrenaline junkies don't dare enter. There are said to be ruins of wealthy civilizations there, but nobody can survive the temperatures, reaching fifty below zero on average and an ever-present wind."

"So…a walk in the park." Zoe said nonchalantly, "I've climbed a fucking frozen mountain to find Eli, I can do it again." Jared's eyes widened in a judging manner,

"What?"

"We call it the _Frozen_ Incident of 2019." Felix responded, "And now Dada is terrified of all things snow and ice. It's very funny." Jared opened and closed his mouth a couple times, debating whether to speak, before groaning loudly,

"Oh fuck. Don't bring up that movie."

"He didn't sing." Zoe assured.

"Thank god!"

"He somehow managed to be Elsa and Anna at the same time." Adrien laughed as he came in, clapping Jared on the shoulder and re-infecting him with the bad luck curse. Jared growled at him and Adrien just flipped him off.

"That's for trying to put me in a bubble cut off from civilization."

"You cursed everyone on this base! Gina tripped over her own feet while talking to the damn president!"

"Girls, you're both pretty." Felix sat on the table, crisscross, not caring he was speaking yo two men, "Now shut up or I will smite you both." Nobody knew if he was serious, because most of them knew he was probably capable.

"Guys…you're giving me a headache." They turned and saw Emilie was helping Kelly walk. He was in a bathrobe now, and it seemed she had cleaned the blood off his face. They looked like a married couple.

"Are you wearing my bathrobe?!" Jared asked in exasperation, "I never use it, but that means you went in my room!"

"I didn't. You did. Mind powers, remember. When I burnout, I get a headache and auto-use my powers. I might have mind-controlled you."

"You son of a bitch!"

"What?" He shrugged, and Gina came in with the donuts, "You gave me a headache and now I have controlled half the staff." Jared bared his teeth,

"Someone needs to nerf you."

"Unless you want me to die, it won't happen. People have already tried." Zoe then attacked the donuts as Gina came storming in,

"Asshole! Did you just—" she flopped over.

"Headache. Sorry." Kelly said calmly, and Gina woke up.

"You controlled me!"

"I didn't." He shrugged, "I strongly influence, but someone with a strong enough will who see it coming can fight me." Adrien raised a hand,

"I've done it. I'm always on guard."

Jared massaged his temples, "This was a mistake." He grabbed a donut and took a bite of it, only to spat it out. It looked like a donut, but the inside was zombie flesh.

Zoe had been changing in her room to go to bed when…

"ZOE, YOU EVIL BITCH!"

She smiled happily, turning her door into a wall so he wouldn't try to kill her.

Slipping into the shower and turning on the hot water, she looked down at her swollen stomach she had been fighting to ignore.

Water dripped down harshly past her shoulders, through long, thick hair, and continuing over her large stomach. It expanded out to prove that another being resided within her. Two heartbeats within one small body. Her back ached as her entire weight relied upon it. She looked down at the stretched skin with red vein-like tendrils seeping across the sides, reminding her of an eyeball. Soft ivory skin, red lines drawn along it. Her heart banged loudly against her chest, the water from the head of the shower screaming louder, trying to overpower all other noise.

It was Eli's baby. She had been carrying his child for over a month—though she was magically in the mid second trimester—and hadn't acknowledged the tiny second life in her body.

She needed him. Couldn't do this without him. A small part of her wanted to protect her child and let her sister and Dad do the saving, but she was the one to drag Eli into this mess and she wanted to be the one to pull him out of it. And she wasn't sure she could handle seeing him without his memory.

She didn't care if they all ran out of hot water, she wasn't in the mood. So she showered and cleaned herself for an hour, braiding her wet hair into a short braided ponytail, and put on a nightgown she found in the dresser.

It was that awful flannel material, soft, but reminiscent of those cloths they used to change babies on before everything went vinyl. It was drab too, mostly beige but with hues of pink and blue so soft you could barely see them. Like it had been washed hundreds of times. It was weird, because she would have rather slept naked than in one of those things. She used to have them when she was little and by the morning she had wriggled so much it was right up around her waist and bunched uncomfortably behind her back. Nightgowns should only be used to keep you warm if they're on a bonfire.

But this room was cold as fuck, or maybe she was just cold. So she just sucked it up and snuggled up in bed, using the pillow and pretending it was Eli as she started to nod off on it.

And then she woke up on a sunny island, wearing a crystal-blue off-the-shoulder dress with a crystallized bodice, and translucent powder blue sleeves. Her feet were bare and she had sand in her toes

"Hello? Where am I?" She looked around. This island looked familiar, but for the life of her she didn't know from where. Then she saw the crooked tree growing star-shaped fruit and knew exactly where she was. The Destine Islands. And on the crooked tree was…

"Eli!" She ran as fast as her legs would take her, and Eli looked up at her with a shocked smile. His eyes sparkled like storm clouds right before lightning hit. Clouds of grey and violet threatened floods and fury while pupils dilated in passion, eyelashes catching any raindrops.

"Princess?" He got off the tree and she kissed him desperately, trying to convince herself that this was real, that he was here, that he remembered her. She cried when he started kissing back, placing his hands on her waist, neither too high or too low. She wanted him, needed him.

"Y-You're real…" He nodded,

"You needed me, so you came. This is my heaven until my soul is stitched back together. Mother went off to deal with something or other." He smiled, "It hasn't been the same without you." He placed a hand on her stomach, brushing away her tears with his other hand.

"I'm sorry." She hugged him, weeping into his shirt, "I should have saved you, shouldn't have hesitated…" he put two fingers under her chin, just like she had to him when she learned what was happening with Douglas,

"Don't cry, don't feel bad. Of course it was hard, me or Adrien. And how were you supposed to know Mara would really finish the job? It still isn't too late, I have sixty days and always have 46% of my soul back."

"I wasted ten days!"

"You didn't know." He held her gently, "It's not your fault. I'm okay." He released the hug and plucked a star-shaped fruit from the tree, tearing it in half and giving her one of the pieces, "Do you remember what you told me about there?" She nodded,

"The Paopu fruit. If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They will be a part of each other's lives, no matter what." Eli nodded, and took a bite of his half as she took a bite of her own, only to bite down on something hard as hell. She spat it out, swallowing the rest of the piece, and gasped.

It was a silver ring, the band made of pure strands of silver strung together, holding small diamonds and a sapphire in the center.

She saw Eli was on one knee.

"Zoe Carpenter-Agreste…the day I met you will always be the happiest day of my life. Things may be a mess right now, but I know with all my heart, that you are the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with. We're young, I know, but both of us grew up when we were kids. I don't know if I would still be alive if I hadn't met you. You are the sweetest melody on these eyes and ears. I could wrap myself up in your words and sleep more soundly than a baby. I guess that's attraction, but it feels so deep, as if this were the start of a song that plays on and on, something so soothing to my soul. So I'm wishing on every rainbow, I'm wishing under skies of velvet cloud and acres of blue, that you are the soulmate I've needed for so very long. So…will you make me the happiest man to ever live, and become my wife?" She slipped on the ring and jumped into his arms,

"I do! I do! I do! I do!" She felt the tears on his cheeks, as something snapped into place.

The thing about a soulmate union, is that the universe had to bring it... and the universe must achieve many good things with a single move in order to beat a dark force. And so, when someone finds their mate, they are the greatest of lovers and the greatest of soldiers, for they must vow to fight for love all the rest of their days or until love has won the peace.

Your mate will love you, live for you and even die for you, yet knowing their death will be yours too... for once the bond is made, it is eternal... and that is the grand prize, the most this universe has to offer. Time with someone who loves you and either a paradise to live in or the right to fight for it. Show with your actions, your deeds as well as your creeds, that you are willing to fight for love with bravery and noble intent, and the universe will bring you together when each of you is emotionally ready to bond with the other and strong enough to resist the siren calls of the dark force to hurt one another. It takes a warrior to do that, to lay down your emotional arms, remove your defenses and replace anger with love.

Zoe and Eli were mates, it made sense. And when in the presence of their bond, they both accepted it with open arms.

Them being mates had been inevitable from the time they had met. They were practically inseparable when they found each other again—even if that had been under dire circumstances. Each was the center of the universe for the other. They were so relaxed in each other's company, so caring. Their love for one another radiated from them, touching the lives of everyone they knew. Over the months, they remained devoted to one other. Through sicknesses and family tragedies, they supported one another. In the rough times, neither strayed.

Marriage wasn't a ring worn or a paper signed. It wasn't something endured, but savored. It was the union of two hearts beating as one, each that would sacrifice for the other's happiness and wellbeing. Marriage was something so beautiful that in that natural world it would be an opening rose, always with radiant petals left to unfurl to a warm sun. Perhaps that was why we give roses to those we love and often have them at our sacred unions. Marriage was the blessing we give to one another, an eternal bond of lovers, and now, a young pair of soulmates.

Zoe looked up at him, "Eli, I don't want to say 'until death do us part.' If I had a thousand lifetimes, I'd want them all to be with you. Isn't that what a soulmates should share? Love that lives on past these mortal bones? 'Till death do us part' is morbid to me. I want the fairy tale. I want 'and they lived happily ever after.' What's wrong with that? Why start a life of love by thinking about death? You are my soulmate, and I want us to always be together in this life and beyond. Doesn't love endure forever?" He kissed her softly, stroking her hair,

"Of course."

"Did I miss it? Seriously?! I have been waiting for this moment since my son left the womb, AND I MISSED IT?!" They both turned and saw Amelia with a wedding cake, a flowery vice, and a huge camera. "I'm a High Priestess, so let's do this. You can have a public wedding later, but I'm dead, so this is the only chance I've got!" She pulled out a book, snapped her fingers, and a wedding arch appeared,

She cleared her throat, looking at the stars twinkling in the night sky, "Okay. I assume you did your vows already, so I'll do this the _Spaceballs_ way." She looked to Eli, "Do you?"

"I do."

She looked to Zoe, "Do you?"

"Of course I fucking do."

Amelia shut the book, "Good. You're married, Mr. and Mrs. Sommers, now kiss so I can have a scrapbook."

Eli didn't hesitate, he kissed her and the world fell away. It was slow and soft, comforting in ways that words would never be. His hand rested below her ear, his thumb caressing her cheek as their breaths mingled. She ran her fingers down his spine, pulling him closer until there was no space left between them and she could feel the beating of his heart against her chest.

The moment was ruined by the flash going off on Amelia's camera.

"That's a keeper." She grinned, "Anyway, I'm gonna leave you two alone for a bit. The sun is coming up and Zoe's gonna have to wake up soon." Eli sighed, squeezing her hand.

"Come on. Let's watch the sunrise." They sat down together, and Eli held her, placing a hand on her stomach and feeling their baby move around inside her. This little one didn't want to be still.

Zoe had been dreaming of chasing around a little girl for months, so she was convinced the baby was going to be a girl. And if this little one was anything like her, she got all bubbly and excited in Eli's presence.

The sun rose like a flower opening, gifting its petals unto the world. Amid the dancing raindrops was the blush of scarlet, the warmth of tangerine. Gazing toward the illuminated clouds, still beneath the ethereal glow, Zoe felt at home in a way she never had before.

The two of them stared out at the morning sky. Mellow blues and pinks blurred together in a silver mist to create another gorgeous scene. Even when the world was drowning in grief and hardship, the sky remained beautiful. That was the one thing that had kept her hopes up—if the sky remained vivid and powerful, then so could she.

The world started fading around her, until she found herself in her bed, with Jared having thrown off her sheets.

"How did you get in?" Then she noticed her door was back. She must have changed it back in her sleep.

"How did you get that ring?" Jared retaliated, "Come on, it's your quest. I'd let you sleep, except you fed me zombie flesh disguised as a donut."

Zoe groaned, getting out of bed. Then she realized what Jared had meant by ring. The ring Eli had given her was on her ring finger still. It wasn't a dream. She had really seen him. She was bummed to be in the horrible nightgown again though.

"The ring is my engagement ring." Her wedding ring. But she knew Adrien would flip if he found out she had performed a handfasting with a dead priestess. "So if you aren't some primal animal, I am going to get dressed in privacy. I can tell from the smell that Dad is cooking breakfast. I'll be out in five. I just gotta call Han."

Jared just flipped her off, "Why in the name of anything did I decide to not kill you all? Let alone let you stay with me."

"Because underneath it all, Winchester, you're a good person." She smirked, "Now you better save some bacon for me." That earned a matching smirk from him,

"If you can catch me." He sprinted off.

"It is on, motherfucker!" She transformed into Heartless and used her superhuman speed to leave him in the dust, which led to him turning into Goreclaw.

In the end, they found Felix had eaten all the bacon.

"You little fucker!" They both shrieked in exasperation. Felix giggled and Kelly came over, holding two huge plates of bacon,

"Calm down, I knew you both would be hungry. One of you being a Moose Jr. and the other being a pregnant foodie. So I did what any decent person would and made more bacon. There are also eggs and cake batter waffles."

"Satan, I missed this." Zoe changed back and started tearing into the food, "Kelly Carpenter Weekend Special." Kelly gave a thumbs up and gave a plate to Emilie, who watched her son eating as well,

"This is nutritionally terrible for you."

"Have you seen what Americans put in their food?" Kelly asked, "This is on the healthy end. European food. Americans put sugar in literally everything."

"I can confirm that." Jared said, eating the bacon, "Okay. What is your secret? This doesn't taste like any bacon I've ever had, and it's amazing."

"Thick deli slices on the barbecue. Been doing it for years." He ate a piece of waffle, "So I called Han, she's fine. The Impala is loaded with food and gonna leave in the hour. So all of you get dressed and ready. And Zoe, I know about the ring, and if you want to keep things secret from your father, you shouldn't be thinking about it without putting up mental shields."

Jared frowned, "Mental shields?"

"The one thing that can resist Dad," Eden responded, "but it takes years of practice to even dully annoy him. A Worldbender can do it with no problem, but it's harder for others."

"If I am going to be with you idiots on this doom quest, I need to learn to do that."

Adrien laughed, "Again, years. I've been working on it for months, I have exceptional willpower, and I can barely keep him at bay for two minutes." Kelly just shrugged,

"If you don't want me to see your dirty thoughts of Marinette, you need to work harder."

"KELLY TMI!" Emilie covered her ears and Adrien turned beat red. Jared, Felix and Zoe laughed at his misfortune.

Gina came in, tripping over absolutely nothing,

"Be back by the end of the week, the President wants to talk to you, Jared." Jared nodded,

"Okay. Assuming I'm not dead." He had practically licked the plate clean, "Let's go then. Zoe, get out of the nightgown."

"Okie. And then we go."

**A/N: Zoe is now Zoe Sommers. Felix is a little angel baby. And now they are off on an adventure to an icy hell. There will be references to the _Frozen_ Incident.**

**Remember to review!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: Of a flashback, an ultrasound, the Ice Waste and a stab wound**

Jared was looking around at everything in the Gummi ship/Impala with an expression that said he was uncomfortable.

Zoe noticed that, "Is this better?" She flipped a few switches and the ship turned into a literal Impala. Jared was in the passenger seat, and the back was magical, so it looked like a normal car on the outside, and there was plenty of room on the inside.

"That is better." He turned to the stereo and _Carry on my Wayward Son_ started playing. "Oh. I was looking for heavy metal, but this works too."

They drove in silence, letting the radio choose, when Emilie decided to break the ice,

"I spy—"

"NO!" Adrien clamped his hand over her mouth, and Zoe turned from the road to send her a death glare. Eden gasped in horror, Kelly laughed, and Hana and Jared were beyond confused.

"No." Adrien explained, "Zoe kills when that game is played. The Cliff Incident of 2014 on Zoe's birth world was still legendary.

_Zoe probably should have known better. When did anything she do ever go smoothly? Was it too much to hope for them to get to the beach and retrieve their parents without any mishaps? And of course, Seth managed to fall off a cliff. Wonderful. Zoe had just regained consciousness to find herself at the bottom of the cliff, after climbing down to rescue Seth._

_In hindsight, she probably should have used the rope._

_In some ways she was glad Seth wasn't awake yet, because he would be unbearable about the whole "forgetting the rope" thing. But then again, if Seth did finally wake up, he could get her arm out from underneath the bloody rock so they could get up to our parents. _

_They were on an island in the middle of fuck fuck nowhere in some weird version of a vacation. Their parents decided to abandon them three days ago and stay at a cabin on the other side of the island. Leaving them all alone with their maternal Grandma, who ate most of the edible food. As such, Zoe and Seth were going to get more, and hopefully bring them back to save the kids from another game of Old Maid. _

_She tried again to push the rock on my arm off, but it refused to budge._

_"Seth!" She called, giving her cousin a small kick to try and wake him up. Seth remained immobile._

_She had to admit that the sight of the blonde lying still and quiet was unnerving. Normally he was talking mindlessly about the bad feeling he had about the mission we were on currently. Luckily, Seth didn't seem too hurt by the fall, though it was hard to tell from the rock she was still stuck under._

_She pushed at the rock again, but it refused to move._

_Trying not to scream in frustration, she shifted onto her front in case that magically made the rock lighter._

_"Zoe!"_

_She could have cried out in relief. Standing at the top of the cliff was Bethany—Beth for short, Seth's slightly younger sister,—looking happy to see them, which was nothing to the relief Zoe had. She wanted to get moving again and—though she would never tell him—check that Seth was OK. _

_"I'll just climb down to help you!"_

_Her eyes snapped open. "NO! Just throw the rope down!"_

_But it was too late; Beth had started to descend the sheer cliff. Maybe it would be fine. Maybe Beth wouldn't fall like they had. Maybe if they were lucky._

_But since when has luck ever been on her side?_

_Beth slipped and tumbled down the cliff like a rag-doll, bouncing off the small ledges that were dotted across. Zoe winced as Beth landed at the bottom with a loud 'CRACK' that echoed across the small gully. A loud yell of pain told her that nothing too vital seemed to have broken._

_"Are you okay?" Zoe asked anxiously, trying to keep the frustration out of her voice._

_"I think that was my leg." Beth called back, and Zoe turned towards the sound. She was pushing herself into a sitting position about three meters from where she was, massaging her left leg with a pained expression on her face._

_"Do you think you could get this rock off me?" Zoe asked, as Beth glanced at her brother's still unconscious form and made as if to crawl towards her, but her leg gave out beneath her and she fell forwards with a small yelp. She pushed her chest off the ground and shook her head sadly. Zoe didn't bother to keep the annoyance out of her frustrated yell. She really did have the worst luck in the world._

_"Is anyone else coming?" She asked hopefully, but Beth shook her head._

_"I didn't know where you were going. I thought it might be some sort of secret so I didn't tell anyone." She glanced towards Seth. "I suppose we'll just have to wait for Seth to wake, and then he can get your arm free."_

_Zoe gave Seth an apprehensive look. Everything relied on him waking up._

_They were doomed._

_Two hours later_

_"I spy with my little eye" Beth said slowly, glancing around at her surroundings "something that begins with 'S"_

_"Is it 'Seth' again?" Seth asked, as Zoe resisted the urge to smash my head repeatedly against the cliff's rocky wall._

_"Yeah. Okay, your turn"_

_"I spy with my little eye… something beginning with 'M'"_

_"Is it… moss?"_

_"Nope."_

_"A maniac?"_

_"No."_

_"Moon? Men? Mud? Monkeys?"_

_"No, no, no and no."_

_"What about-"_

_"IT'S MYSELF!" Zoe yelled. "NOW SHUT UP AND LET ME BROOD IN PEACE!"_

_One second of silence._

_"I spy with my little eye, something beginning with 'B'"_

_"Buzzkill?"_

_"Yes!"_

_One hour later_

_"I spy with my lit—"_

_"IF YOU START THAT GAME AGAIN I WILL THROW THIS ROCK AT YOU! FAMILY OR NOT!"_

_Two hours later_

_"Are you guys alright?" Eden's voice echoed down the cliff, full of confusion, fear and trepidation._

_"Fine!" Zoe called up. If she still had the full use of both her arms—they had gotten the rock off an hour prior but, it was still scraped up and likely sprained—she'd be punching the air right. They might be able to get out of there after all._

_Eden looked anxiously down at them, as though she didn't believe her family members were okay for one second. Her eyes roamed over Zoe and her mangled arm, Beth with her broken leg, Seth with his likely broken—or very much sprained—arm._

_"You're a terrible liar, Zoe." Eden said, as Zoe shrugged. "You need help!"_

_"Yeah, probably."_

_"Wait a second; I'll just climb down to you—AHH!"_

_"No! DON'T—!"_

"Yeah…" Zoe shuddered, "That was _part_ of day one of four."

"Four?" Jared laughed, "Did someone die?"

"Almost." Eden answered, "Zoe just about killed us all. Pretty much all of our cousins fell down by day three. Aaron gave me booze and I got drunk af, and I started asking pointless questions. Seth got shaved though."

"What kind of messed up family did you have?!" Hana asked. Kelly laughed,

"It was Maeve's side of the family."

"That explains a lot." Was Emilie's response.

Adrien decided to make more conversation, "So…_Star Wars_? Jared, what's your opinion of the prequels?"

"Never saw them. It's not real _Star Wars_." Kelly clapped him on the back,

"You are such a wise man." Adrien nodded,

"I lost it about thirty seconds after Jar Jar appeared." Everyone winced. Hana decided to add onto this conversation,

"Opinion of the newer ones?"

"_Force Awakens _was meh, and I literally went to find someone to kill after _Last Jedi_."

"I think you are basically a male version of me." Zoe responded with a chuckle, "RIP Johnny Atkins." Everyone roared with laughter.

They all ended up speaking of various fandoms as Zoe drove, switching the Impala back into a Gummi Ship so they could fly over the ice tundra.

They went like this for a while, until the engine literally froze.

"We're going down!" Zoe shouted, "Brace yourself!"

They crashed in a 'floof' of snow and ice, kind of like slush. The ship crashed and it started getting really cold. Zoe flipped on the emergency generator,

"This will keep the ship warm. Han, Eden, Emilie, you three stay here with Felix and try to keep warm. Hana and Emilie are mortal, Felix isn't even two, and Eden is a healer. Adrien, Jared and Dad, you all are experienced. Adrien's curse will come in handy, no offense. Dad's OP mind powers can help handle the cold, and Jared knows this world better than the rest of us."

The coat Zoe slipped on was blue like a midwinter night an hour before pitch dark; that color you see as velvet no matter what the texture is. Yet even under my chilled fingertips the fabric was far from soft. Such a feminine cut in coarse fabric made little sense, why make something so exquisite that feels like every grandpa's old oiler jacket?

She also slipped on a black scarf, hat, and gloves.

Kelly huffed as he used his powers on the others as they bundled up, "Ready?" She finished putting on heavy boots and snowshoes, strapping Excalibur to her hip—which had been enchanted to be completely invulnerable to anything, including icy cold. She hopped onto the snow,

"Let's go."

Five hours later

The cold moved in, only to meet the warmth of her blood, her defense against such ice. She felt it wash over her skin, again and again, only to be met by the beat of her heart, again and again. The truth was, as hard as it was, that so long as she kept moving, she'd win. The ones who stopped were the ones who froze; the victors reached the safety of home because one foot always moved in front of the other in defiance to the wind, in a rage against the winter blasts, at ease with the volcano that breathed under the snowy plain.

It wasn't a pleasant coldness. It was the kind that made you walk all the faster and brace your head against the wind. No matter how warm the blood in your veins, your face got frozen just the same. In spring time the water lies softly on the ground, but on that day it was solid to a drop in every from it could take. From soft snow underfoot to the icicles that hung from the railway bridge and the black ice that lay in wait on the freeway, nothing flowed. It was a day to stay inside and tend the fire, a day to reread that old book and to bake those cookies you always eat too many of.

"It's colder than a witch's tit out here." Adrien moaned, Kelly turned,

"I know how I would know that, but how would you?!"

"It's an expression. And how would you know?"

"I was raised my a witch who was constantly having babies. Regina raised me in my infancy, so of course I would know that."

Jared just pulled his coat tighter around him, "Can you stop? That is making us all feel quite awkward."

"Agreed." Zoe shivered, "Jesus, Dad, can you make us any warmer?"

"No. I can make the cold uncomfortable but tolerable instead of us being dead. That's about it. I'm only a DemiGod right now."

"G-Guys…" Chat Noir was taking the cold harder after he fell into the ice water on a thin patch. Zoe had needed to transform and save him, and now he was shivering like hell. Jared was still shocked the cursed boy was alive, but he was.

"Yeah Kitty?"

"L-L-L-ook…" Everyone looked to where he was pointing and gasped.

The town was out of place in the flat terrain of ice. The old road was barely discernible through the slippery sleet that had colonized it and so the dilapidated buildings that once fashioned a high-street had the feel of a movie set. But this was no million-dollar venture, these were tear-downs that no-one had any incentive to demolish. The occasional window was still in possession of its glass but most had broken so long ago that there was no trace of the shards on the rotting plank floors. In most homes, the roofs had partially caved in or at the very least they sagged like a disappointing soufflé. The only welcome was the howl of the wind and the only future of the town was to be slowly beaten by the weather and eventually succumb to gravity without even a witness or person to mourn its passing.

But one building stood apart from the others in the small town.

The abandoned house stood in a composed way, as if it had chosen solitude for itself, as if residents were a luxury it could forgo. The floors had been a highly polished parquet, individual blocks lovingly placed and sanded to a smooth finish before the varnish was brushed on with fine bristles. The walls stood firm, the window frames strong, glass triple glazed and whole. All in all, _it_ looked like a movie-set, a place waiting for life to come. The only give-away was the odor, well, that and the dust. It was musty and dry, but nothing opening the doors and windows couldn't solve. A spring clean, some fresh flowers, perhaps the house would enjoy the luxury of company.

Chat looked around, "This place looks…"

"Occupied." Kelly nodded, and then his eyes turned blood red, meaning he was angry. He looked around, "JARED, BEHIND YOU!" Jared turned and then immediately jumped backwards, only to see a demonic version of Ladybug holding a dazzling knife.

The knife was dual blade with a hardwood handle. Everything about it was precise. It was the kind of knife yuppies carry when they want to look tough on their one hour hike in the park.

"I thought you killed her!"

"I know I—" He glared, "Damnit. That's just her body, she's a Darkling. Mona! Get your ass out here, be a woman and fight!" A woman came out from behind a pillar.

She has platinum blonde long hair with pink highlights, and light skin. She wears a pink, blue and purple outfit with colorful butterflies on the top and a flower hair band. Her most striking feature, like all members of the Blackwell family, were her eyes.

Her eyes reminded Zoe of ashes and smoke blowing in the wind coming from a fire that burned everything to the ground. They were intense, coming from that fire that burned deep within her soul.

Mona chuckled, "Kelly Darling, how did you know it was me?"

"Because you are the one who recycles instead of starting from scratch. Always liked that about you." Because everyone was confused, Mona clarified,

"I have never been one for making deals and extracting souls so I could use the vessel. I prefer using a vessel where the soul is already gone. Like little Ladybug here, and I also left a little gift in her. Your mate's soul fragment," Mona was saying that to Zoe as the stroked the demon Ladybug's hair, "Kill her and his soul is destroyed too. Don't kill her and…she'll kill you. And there is no way you can expel the piece, Kelly Darling, without wasting time saving them." She looked to Ladybug, "Have your fun, dear. But make sure to leave the pregnant one well enough to survive with her child, I didn't say anything about conscious."

Chat Noir lunged, "Don't you even you fucking bitch!"

Chat stood, folding both arms over his chest. He didn't fear a woman in the least, Darkling or human. But when she approached, Chat was close to changing that disposition when her balled fist collided with his cheekbone, flaying his neck backward like a willow caught in the wind. As he stumbled, he nearly fell over the bench, rubbing his cheek with his palm. Her action certainly took him by surprise.

"What the hell!" he cried, regaining his balance, "Bitch! You may look like an evil version of my girlfriend, nobody threatens my sister and gets away with it!"

"Is that so?" The demon-Ladybug tried to kick him, but he caught her leg, "You can't win if you can't kill me." Kelly was trying to figure out the spell to evict the piece while Zoe was chasing down Mona outside.

Jared was helping Chat by transforming and throwing Ladybug across the room.

"You said we couldn't kill you." Goreclaw smirked, pulling out his badass knives, "Doesn't mean we can't hurt you. I've wanted to do this for so long."

Nobody really wanted to intervene, and Kelly threw his hands out,

"Yfel onhweorfan sê ðâ ðe wriðelian! lêafnes hîe bêon nâ ðe! ðærnian ðæge pro faran nâh−w¯ær later! Eli, ebbian gyden me!" Ladybug seized and vomited out the violet orb that flew into Kelly's jar, "Okay, Eli's safe. Kill away."

Zoe came in, "Lost her. But get this, there's something going on with that witch we met in the _Tangled_ world, Melanie. She's sick, and I think the other sisters care about her more than killing Eli, she said she wanted your help, Dad, and I…I believe her."

"That's interesting." Chat Noir pointed out. "So can we hit the road and get the fuck off this icy hell?"

"Thank god for that." Jared stood up, "Because your magic warm voodoo is wearing off. Now, can I—" He froze and dropped to his knees, Evil Ladybug was standing just behind him, holding the now-bloody knife.

"Cataclysm!" Chat Noir grabbed the Darkling by the throat and she crumbled into dust. Zoe ran to Jared's side, holding him up and feeling the wound on his back.

The blood didn't gush in a constant flow, but in time with the beating of Jared's heart. At first it came thick and strong, flowing through her fingers as they clasped the ripped flesh. She felt the blood move over her hand, the thick fluid no warmer or cooler than his own skin. After a few moments more, the blood was still leaving his rapidly paling flesh, but the pulses were slower, weaker.

Even in the twilight, the gushing blood glinted red. Though the appearance was halloweenish the smell wasn't and neither was the effect on everyone. Watching him ebb away, his eyes growing steadily more dull, she felt as if her guts were torn.

"Jared, hey, it's not even that bad. Just stay awake, and we will get you help."

"You pretty much just said what Dean said to Sam seconds before he died in Cold Oak—an abandoned ghost town." Jared coughed, "That is not reassuring."

She sighed in relief, because even though that may have been a verbal failure, he was making references, so he could be worse. "Okay then." She hoisted him up, "Just…keep calm, because your blood is spewing out at the rate of your heart and I already stuffed my hat on it, and I don't have much. Blazze is keeping me warm and that's about it."

"Look what I found!" Kelly and Chat came running back in with two snowmobiles, "Took a little fixing," Chat said, "But they weren't in terrible shape. Kels and I will take one, Zo, take Jared back to Eden as fast as possible." Zoe nodded and literally swept Jared off his feet into a bridal-style carry—which was quite strange because he was fifteen inches taller than her and much heavier, and she was pregnant.

"Put me down!" It didn't escape her notice that while he was fighting strong against her, he was weakening, "I'm okay."

"Sure. I'll put you down when we get to the ship and Eden can heal you." She sat on the snowmobile and turned it on.

"How are you even supporting me…?"

"I'm a magical bitch. But seriously, you do weigh a lot. Brace yourself, this is gonna be cold and fast." It had taken them five hours at superhuman speeds, so that was roughly twenty miles. "I would say it will take about a half hour. Can you hang on until then?" He nodded,

"Yeah. I can do that." Fortunately, the cold was ensuring less blood loss. Warmer environments would lead to more blood loss and Jared would already be dead. She wrapped him in a blanket and raced across the Ice Waste.

She was getting flashbacks of the _Frozen_ Incident. Desperately trying to carry a dying man she considered a friend out of an icy hell and to a healer. Only Eli had been the love of her life. Not that she was going to let Jared die.

She shook him every now and then, making sure he was still alive. He was slipping in and out of consciousness, but he was still alive.

"Eden!" She carried him in, followed by Chat and Kelly, who both embraced the warmth of the ship. Emilie helped Zoe set Jared down.

"What happened?"

"He got stabbed Cold Oak style." Adrien responded, "Ya still with us?"

"I'm not dead." Was the response. Kelly got in the driver seat and flew into the Lanes Between.

"So hospital?" Kelly asked, "Because it's an hour to the hospital on our world and a half a day to the hospital on Blight." Viirus was sitting in Jared's hand with Blazze, leaning on his sister in support.

Eden rolled the large man on his side, "Jared, this is going to hurt."

"I've already died once, can't be any worse."

"It can be." Eden snapped, "So focus on your breathing."

"I'm not…giving…birth…"

"You're not. But you are suffering from a fatal stab wound, and I am going to basically fuse it back together. Just relax." Her hands began to glow and she set them on his back.

He didn't scream, but his muscles did tense and he bit down hard.

"Okay. Hana, I need water and a cool wash cloth." Hana grabbed the supplies and Emilie used them to dab the sweat off his forehead. He was already pale, cold and clammy with a grey tint on his lips, meaning he was going into shock. That was really bad.

"Emilie, I need you to put on gloved and put pressure around the wound while I work. Adrien, get yourself warmed up, Dad you look ready to pass out so take a nap, and Zoe you have worked hard enough today."

It was strange to see Eden, gentle and kind Eden, was being a strong leader. She knew what she was doing and was taking charge.

Emilie put pressure on the wound and Eden continued to work, until it looked like a freshly healed injury.

"It's healed over." Eden said, adjusting her bun, "But I'm worried about the blood loss. He's lost way too much and is already in shock. So we need to get to the hospital, now." Zoe had taken the wheel of the ship since Kelly was so deeply asleep that nothing could wake him. He hadn't been able to properly recover from his burnout, so now he was gonna crash and sleep for three days or so.

Adrien was wrapped in blankets, and Eden gave him warm tea.

"He's going to be okay, right?" Viirus asked, looking at his chosen. Eden nodded a little,

"If we get there in time, he will."

She didn't notice the way Hana was looking at her.

OoOoO

Zoe and Adrien were supporting Jared,

"Doctor! We need a doctor!" Emilie called as they made it to the receptionist, Mrs. Brill,

"Oh. It's the Agreste family," Mrs. Brill groaned, "And a stab wound, you guys love to keep it interesting." Jared had his eyes half open and hummed in confusion, so Zoe clarified,

"We kind of have a history around here." She looked to the receptionist, "Can you get him in?"

"Already did." And then the paramedics were taking Jared back, leaving everyone else. Kelly was sleeping comically in the chair, proving his chair-sleeper gene.

Hana was going through a mental argument with herself.

She admired everything about Eden, from the way the breeze blew her hair to the soft Irish lilt to her voice. To her, she looked like some kind of water sprite. But what really made her fall head over heals for the younger Worldbender was the way she dealt with her patients. She put them at ease better than any medication. They hung on her every word and she always knew just what to say.

Jared wasn't the first of her patients, she had been treating people after the attack, and saved hundreds of lives. There were people who had brain matter spilling everywhere and she healed them with no problem whatsoever. She was a leader when she wanted to be, and that just turned Hana on.

And goddamn she was beautiful.

Hana loved her curves of softness. With the muscle of a footballer and the blessed fat of a baby, she was the most astonishing girl I ever met... easy to talk to and fun to be around. There was beauty in being a good listener, someone who sought to make connections and joy and see things from new perspectives. Eden had safe eyes, perhaps that was the best way to say it. She had a beauty that made those billboard-princesses look as paper thin as they are, she was something robust and real. Age couldn't touch that kind of beauty, it was just there.

"Crush" was such an infantile word, one that must have been invented by older folks, the ones with an interest in belittling young love. Hana hated it. She didn't have a crush on Eden, she loved her with the passion hotter than a thousand suns. Eden was the one. She knew it. She was all that was in her mind; she was her true north, her everything. Maybe one day they'd prove everyone wrong, run away together, start a family of their own. Maybe she'd find a way to talk to her, tell her how she felt, then she could finally stop hiding her emotions...

Right now, she could see Eden stressed out. Her emotions were not easily hidden on her innocent face. Her pain was evident in the crease of her brow and the down-curve of her full lips. But her eyes, her eyes showed her soul. They were a deep pool of restless gold, an ocean of hopeless grief.

As Hana looked into her sea-green eyes, she knew, all the beauty of the universe could not even hope to compete with this simple thing: passion. Passion turned her eyes into orbs of the strongest current, and in them Hana read clearly that she would fight to the very last tear for her life. She would not let the world break her. Sure she could cry, but she would never let them take her true self from her. She clung to it with passion. Passion that made her beautiful.

She sat down next to her on the couch, "Eden, are you okay?" Eden fiddled with a strand of her dirty blonde hair,

"I've never lost a patient before." She said quietly, "Hana, I got my acceptance letter into Harvard Medical School…I don't want to start the school year having lost a patient. Jared lost a lot of blood, I'm not sure if…" she wiped away her tears, but the team heard her,

"You got into Harvard Med!" Zoe rushed over and hugged her, "I remember that was your dream when you were a toddler."

"And it helps that I'm a healer." Eden nodded, "But I-I…"

Dr. Winston came out, looking tired, but not scared.

"Come on, let's get this over with." They went back and saw Jared sleeping on a hospital bed. "He lost a lot of blood, almost went into irreversible shock, but cauterizing the wound saved his life. He had a blood transfusion, and will wake up in his own time." He smiled, "Zoe, do you want to do a check on your baby?"

"You knew?!" Dr. Winston nodded, poking her stomach with his pencil.

"Wanna do the ultrasound to see what you're having?" Zoe looked to her family, who nodded eagerly—Emilie was even calling Gabriel.

"Okay then." She still had the jar of the piece in her hands, "Wanna go see, love?"

"Duh. I want to know what my beautiful mate is gonna have." Dr. Winston just sighed, not even gonna question it.

One hour later

"See?" Everyone was looking at the screen as Dr. Winston moved the wand around, "So do you want to know, or do you want it to be a surprise?"

"I want to know!" Adrien giggled, holding onto his Marinette. "I want to prepare for being an uncle!"

Zoe shrugged, "Eli?" The orb flew in circles excitedly, "Okay then, I do."

"Perfect. You're having twins, a boy and a girl." Zoe's eyes widened, looking at her stomach, then the orb, then to her sleeping father…and then she grabbed a pillow and screamed into it.

Twins. TWINS?! She was having twins?!

Felix appeared, "Guys! You told me to get ice and YOU LEFT ME IN THAT ICY HELL! I literally flew here!" Zoe shot up,

"Oh baby! Come here." She sent a death glare to everyone else and let him hug her. He was so cold.

"Oh my god!" Emilie looked extremely guilty, "I thought he had come back in already, and we were so distracted with Jared and…I am so sorry."

Felix was shivering, looking back at her, "No harm, no foul." Zoe wrapped a fuzzy blanket around her son. He put his hands on her stomach, and she smiled, holding the jar with them.

"Felix, you're gonna have a little brother _and_ sister. I know you probably didn't expect it, but—"

"I get to have two baby siblings!" He hugged her stomach, "Hi babies! I'm Felix, your big brother!" Zoe felt the babies move around and giggled as Felix squealed in delight. Adrien joined in the hug, followed by the rest of the family.

Gabriel broke the hug, "So…I take it I'm paying for Jared's hospital stay, and taking Kelly and Felix." Zoe sighed,

"Actually…I think we should all rest for a few days. We can drop Jared off on his home world when he is discharged."

Felix jumped up and down, "Mama! We should go to the store and get ready for the babies!" Her heart warmed at how excited he was. Dr. Winston just waved goodbye.

OoOoO

Jared woke up with a pounding headache.

He opened his eyes and blinked a few times, sitting up and finding himself in a new environment. It was a hospital.

He rubbed his eyes and moved to get out of the bed, only to wince in pain at a sharp jolt in his lower back.

Viirus flew over, "You're awake!"

"Yeah. What happened? It's blurry after something about a Darkling Ladybug."

"Correct." Viirus nodded, "You got stabbed 'Cold Oak' style, Zoe said you would know what that means. You lost way too much blood, and have been unconscious for three days. We're on Zoe's world, this is Paris."

"Paris?" He got up and looked out the window and saw a beautiful city. This was Paris?

He looked around and found himself in a hospital gown, and his weapons were nowhere to be found. And then the door opened and a doctor came in,

"Good to see you're awake." He turned to the other man, "Who are you?"

"The doctor who has been taking care of you." The man said wearily, "Anyway, I just need to look you over, and then I can call Zoe to pick you up."

"No. Don't tell Zoe, I need to look around." The doctor shrugged and looked him over.

"Alright. Take this," he handed him a bottle of pills, "If the pain is too bad, and here is the address for the Agreste family. I would try to stop you, but this family is a pain in the ass."

"I realized that already, but okay." He walked out of the hospital and looked around the city. This world was beautiful, and it didn't seem like anyone had any murderous intent. But he was currently broke, so even though he didn't wan to, he did need to find Zoe.

He walked into a bakery and saw a young girl about Zoe's age,

"Excuse me, do you know how to get to the Agreste mansion?" The girl frowned,

"You new? Because it's the huge mansion by the school."

"Oh….I thought that was some sort of city hall."

"Nope. Two years ago it only housed the same number of people, now there are multiple families there." Jared nodded,

"Thank you. I'm Jared by the way."

"I know. My boyfriend told me. I'm Marinette." She held her hand out, and Jared was put out that she was taken, but took her hand,

"Well, goodbye Marinette."

It wasn't until he was ringing the bell on the gate did he realize that girl was the alternate version of _his_ Ladybug, from what Kelly had said about her real name.

The gates opened and Jared looked around, finding a little baby, no more than six months old, dressed in a pink princess dress, smiling up at him with intense blue eyes.

"Hi!" She waved, and another man came over, in a wheelchair. Judging by the posters he had seen, he guessed this was Adrien's father, Gabriel Agreste.

"Elaine, I'm out of cookies, Zoe's making more, but for now please don't teleport." He picked up the little girl and held his hand out, "I'm Gabriel. I assume you're here about Zoe and her doom quest. Pixie Girl and the Sorcerer arrived an hour ago. It turns out Eli has a lot of friends he didn't know about. So…good for him, I guess…? Anyway, Zoe's downstairs and we are going to be leaving in the hour. We will drop you off on your home world."

Jared looked to where Adrien was packing up the bags, "I want to help you guys." Adrien looked up and smiled, "You saved my life, and the Ladybug on my world is dead. I have time."

Kelly came in, looking much healthier, and grinned, "Awesome! Let's go!"

Six frustrating hours later

They were in the Lanes Between, listening to the radio…when the Baby Shark song came on.

The team consisted of Zoe, Eden, Adrien, Emilie, Kelly, Gabriel, Jared, Pixie Girl, and the Sorcerer—whose name was apparently Kevin. And they were all groaning loudly. Take a guess at who said the following,

"Turn it off!"

"I need a drink!"

"Someone is gonna die if that doesn't turn off."

"Put down the radio, Jared! That thing was expensive!"

"Make it stop!"

"I'm going to throw myself into the Lanes Between if that awful noise doesn't stop!"

"For the love of Mother Nature, this is awful!"

"My ears are bleeding!"

"Guys! It will be over in a minute."

Silence….and then the song started again,

"NOOOOOOOOO!"

They were so distracted by the awful song, that nobody noticed the sleeping gas seeping through the vents. Jared was the first to notice it,

"Guys…do you smell something?" But by then, everyone was asleep.

The last thing any of them heard was a distant feminine laugh as their ship was pulled along.

**A/N: Cliffhanger, and a lot of things to unload. The next chapter is gonna be fun, and don't forget to review. No seriously, please review.**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: The Pixie Girl series isn't out yet, so the civilian identity of the Sorcerer is Kevin until further notice.**

**Chapter 16: Nonary Game?**

Kelly shot awake, "What the hell was that?"

"Are you okay?" Pixie Girl asked, flying a little. The rest of the team was sitting around, examining the scenery.

"Uh…" he rubbed his head, "Yeah…just had a weird dream—" he finally got a good look at his environment, "Wait, where the hell are we?"

Jared was pacing, "We were just trying to figure that out."

Kelly stood up and surveyed his companions, "Wait a minute… those things on your wrists…" he took Zoe's wrist, which had a black bracelet with a red band on top of it, and everyone else had them too, "they couldn't be…no… no…NOOOOO! NOT THIS FUCKING SHIT AGAIN!" He tore at his hair. He knew exactly what this was. He just prayed to hell that he was wrong.

"Jeez, calm down." Gabriel groaned, "You're not the only one who doesn't want to be in this place."

"Calm down?" Kelly snapped, "Calm down?! You stupid assholes, you don't have any clue! sleeping gas, nine people, devices on our wrists! it can only mean—"

A static noise started and a girl appeared on the TV screen. She seemed to be a teenager, with long brunette hair in two pigtails, and ivory skin. She had bright violet eyes and wore natural looking makeup. Her outfit consisted of a dark blue long-sleeved top, a green dress over it, dark brown tights and cream colored boots with a slight heel.

"Greetings Guardians of Light,"

"What?" Eden frowned.

The girl didn't respond to that, "I trust you all had a restful sleep." Kelly growled as she continued, "Please forgive the manner you were brought here, but I'm afraid it was a necessary evil."

"Who—who are you?" Adrien stuttered, "What—What do you want with us!?"

The girl smiled, "To clarify, I will tell you that this message, as well as any other, is prerecorded. Do not expect any direct responses from me. And don't even bother screaming for help. The walls in this facility are completely soundproof." She sat on a velvet chair, "Now allow me to introduce myself—no interrupting Kelly. I am Maxine, the Gamer of Fate, and I would like to welcome you all to _my_ Nonary Game. Your Miraculouses are mine until this game is over."

Everyone panicked at the fact they didn't have their Miraculous, especially Adrien, who heavily relied on Plagg as a floating therapist.

The Sorcerer, Kevin, frowned, "Nona what now?"

"He said Nonary Game, you dumbass," Gabriel snapped, "as in the number nine!"

"Oh my." Zoe grinned, "Could it be she brought us together to participate in a killing game?" She glared, "That's impossible! I've got that shit patented, alright? Meaning I'm the only one allowed to do that!"

"Can you shut up?" Eden asked, "I can't hear what she's saying."

Maxine was still talking, "This is designed to push you beyond your limitations, to force you to think outside the box. And, most importantly, determine how far you are willing to go to survive—or save your dear Eli." That got everyone's attention, but for different reasons.

"Eli!" Was how Zoe reacted.

"Survive?!" Was Emilie. Everyone else was in stunned silence and listened to Maxine continued.

"For you see, this is a game of life and death. Of trust and betrayal. The person standing next to you could be your ally, or your rival. Now, allow me to explain the rules of the game. The goal itself is simple: Escape the facility. To your left is a sealed door that leads to the outside and the box containing Eli Sommers' soul piece." An image of the large safe-like door appeared, "To unlock it, you require the five key cards spread through out the facility. The compound itself it separated into four different sectors outside the main lobby, with one key card in each. As for the fifth and final key card…let's just say finding that one will take some extra thought. The key cards themselves take on a digital form, the functionality is in the device strapped to your wrist. Key cards can only be obtained once, but each device can hold more than one distinct card."

"Meaning its possible for one person to obtain all five keys…" Jared mused.

"Once they've all been obtained, simply scan the devices containing the key cards at the exit, within five seconds of one another, to unlock the door outside. Please note, the door will only stay open for a total of ten seconds before closing forever. So make sure your don't dally too much." She held up a form of five cards, "Now what if you're not one of the lucky people to obtain a key card? Worry not. You can still leave when the door opens, assuming you're not left behind, of course. If however, you don't trust your teammates to let you escape with them, there is another option: simply steal their device. However, the only way for a device to be removed is…for the person to be dead."

Everyone who knew Hawk Moth narrowed their eyes at Gabriel, who just groaned.

"Each of your devices is constantly detecting your pulse. Should that disappear, the device will unlock itself from your wrist. In other words, if you want to steal someone's key card, you need to kill them first. Now, a few other important things to note. Devices cannot be forcefully removed, and any attempt to do so will lead to severe consequences. You see, inside each device is two needles full of deadly poison, and it will immediately inject into you should your devices be tampered with. When it does, purple discoloration will form around your wrist, ad spread up your body, and kills you two minutes after injection. And as for the pain, let's just say its unpleasant."

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Adrien screamed.

"Damnit, that was right in my ear." Jared complained.

"In addition to the aforementioned regulations, you will all be given one action you are forbidden from doing, doing so will result in your termination via injection. Your forbidden action can be seen at any time, by pressing the button atop your device. I suggest you remember it well. One last note, there is a map of the rooms on the computer screen below, and it shows the maximum people allowed in a room at one time, once that limit is reached, the door shuts until someone leaves, or someone dies." She brushed back a strand of her hair, "And with that, I believe that is everything."

"It's about time!" Kevin said.

"I'm just going to leave you alone to question your morals." Maxine said, "I look forward to seeing your answer."

Gabriel threw his hands up, "It just hit me how we get out of here! Zoe or Eden, just use your Jesus powers!

Eden crossed her arms, "If I could, don't you think I would have done that by now. I can't get us out, we both can use our powers, but only a kernel of it, and neither of us can teleport. I would say for that to be possible, we need to be in a place that shouldn't exist. Like a black hole or something."

"No." Kelly said, "Maxine likes to create her own worlds, that way her 'playmates' are always on her turf. She loves the game, she doesn't do it as a means to an end. As long as we bore her, she won't rig it against us. If we entertain her, she will do everything she can to keep the game going."

Adrien was rocking back and forth, "Damnit, I cant handle this, I don't want to die! I'm still a virgin!"

"Am I going to die?" Kevin asked worriedly.

"No." Zoe assured, "As long as we stick together, I'm sure we can figure something—"

Gabriel tapped him, "Uh guys, where did Pixie Girl go?"

Kevin shrugged, "Probably off to grow a plant somewhere."

"Looks like Emilie is gone too." Eden added.

"Well this is off to a great start." Gabriel started making his way to one of the doors, "Whatever."

"Wait, Gabriel where are you going?" Zoe asked.

"Where do you think I'm going? I'm going to find those key cards so we can escape this foul place."

"Shouldn't we figure out a plan or something first?" Kelly asked, "Oh, and we should share what each of our forbidden actions is."

"You really think I'm going to hand that information to any of you assholes?" Gabriel asked, "Besides, you can literally read my mind to find it, so there is no point in me telling you." Kelly suddenly looked tense, but Adrien took away the attention from that.

"I'm honestly scared of most of you!"

Kevin shrugged, removing his mask for a moment, "I'm only a tool for all of you to create an even greater hope."

"ESPECIALLY HIM!"

Gabriel just gently pushed Zoe out of the way, "Now get out of my way!" He entered one of the rooms. Jared was having none of it,

"Oh motherfucker, you really think I'm just gonna let you walk away after saying that…" he continued to have a shouting match with Gabriel that got increasingly blurrier.

Kevin shrugged, "I guess I'll go and make sure those two don't kill each other." He entered with them, and the door bolted shut.

"Well I guess that leaves the four of us." Eden said, "We should all take a second to figure out what to do next." Nobody seemed to have a plan, so she took charge again, "Okay, so according to the map, the three guys went into the light blue area, Pixie Girl and Emilie went into the green area, so that leaves the pink and the yellow areas."

"I vote on the yellow area." Zoe said.

"Okay, so Zoe and I will check out the yellow area, so Adrien you go with—"

"Nope. Nu uh, no. I'm not being alone with him! I'm not going alone with him," Adrien pointed at Kelly, "every time I do, BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO ME. Have you forgotten about the fucking Ice Waste!? Forget it, alright, I'm just going to stay in here where it is safe in the lobby!"

Zoe sat on the couch, "How about I stay and you go with Kelly and Eden." Adrien huffed, and Kelly wrapped an arm around him,

"Fine. Bye dude, try not to get murdered while we're gone. Adrien, come on."

"Damnit Kelly, stop raising my death flag!"

…

Zoe sat alone on a couch, eating some ice cream from the mini-fridge. She started monologuing to herself,

"That motherfucker, who does she think she is? Kidnapping me and forcing me and my friends into a killing game! Doesn't she know who I am? I'm the fucking Dark Queen of Hell! I make people kill each other, not the other way around!" She went into her sweater, "I swear before this is over I'm going to make an example of this Maxine and dig my knives into—what!? She took my knives?! How am I supposed to kill the bitch now? Well… I suppose I couldn't anyway…"

Zoe Sommers. Forbidden Action: Killing.

…

Kevin looked around, "Huh… this looks like a dining hall."

"Damn," Jared started counting chairs, "did Maxine plan on more participants or something? Because this place is massive."

"I'd imagine it was used for something else before this," Gabriel sassed, wishing he wasn't here and back home with his baby, "because it hasn't been touched in years judging by the dust."

"So a bunker."

"How in the world should I know? More importantly, there is another room in the back." Gabriel pointed to a small door in the back of the room.

"I'll check it out." Jared said.

"No, I will check it out." Kevin threw his hands up,

"Both of you go, I'll look around here." Jared smirked, playfully bowing to Gabriel,

"Fine. Ladies first."

…

Row after row of neatly lined up books with their spines facing outward, color coded with dots, fiction section arranged in alphabetical order, young adults section, children's section with low shelves and floor cushions, comfortable leather arm chairs, tables for quiet study, muffled stillness, librarian at help desk, hushed atmosphere punctured by the occasional child's laugh, coarse cheap carpet on the floor, computers for doing book searches, computers for surfing the web, wall of magazines, shelves of CD's and movies, washrooms, busy car park.

Dust collected everywhere as far as the could see, spider webs wove loosely around books, dirtied shelves, and stands, Busted lamps hung fro weathers, braided wires that were embedded into to cracked ceiling. The ground was littered with dirt, glass, books, and torn paper. The crevices in the wall allowed small amounts light to filter inside along with thin ropes of ivy. Dust floated lazily in the air causing them a difficult time breathing, and every step put more of it in to the air.

"Wow." Eden looked around, "This is a pretty extensive library. Let's see what we got here…" she pulled out a book, then paused, "What? All of the books are empty." She flipped through multiple more and was met with the same result.

Kelly dumped the books off the desk, "I found something." It revealed a carving in the wooden table, "A single pearl in a sea of knowledge."

"So I assume that means only one of these books has anything useful." Adrien responded.

"I see a back room," Eden took Kelly by the arm, "come on Dad." The entered the room and both Carpenters gasped.

It was a room full of old fashion games, and a vending machine.

"No way…" Eden looked around, "It's like a gamer's paradise!"

"Well Maxine is the Gamer of Fate so…." Eden looked around and came across a different game.

"Slugger? I've heard of Frogger, but not this…" She attempted it, but it was like a rigged version of Frogger, so there was no way to win. "Grrrr, I will not let this game beat me."

One hour later

Adrien came in, "Hey guys, I found the book. It has cheat codes in it. I found it by touching every single book, and the one that was almost destroyed was the good book." They both stared at him in shock, before Kelly spoke.

"That's brilliant actually."

Eden took the book and put in the cheat codes, auto-beating the game. Then her band beeped and she saw she had a key card.

"Sweet! A key card!" At least her forbidden action wouldn't come to pass.

Eden Imelda Carpenter: Forbidden Action: Being a Follower.

…

"So we got a kitchen here." Gabriel looked around at all of the things in the room. It wasn't a nice kitchen, but it wasn't terrible either.

"Whatever," Jared went into what looked like a pantry, "I'm going to look over there." Gabriel looked around and saw a freezer door with sixteen squares on one side and a large circle on the other. He tried to open, but that failed,

"Jared…this door is stuck. You're strong, can you open it?" Jared came over,

"Move out of the way, I'll show you how it's done." He tried to open it, but that didn't work, "Oh damn it really is stuck."

"It might have something to do with the strange symbols on the freezer door." Gabriel gestured to the symbols.

"So you think we need to punch in some sort of combination?" Jared asked, "That's a bit much. I'm going to look under this suspicious plant, because that freezer is clearly a red herring. And lo' and behold, I was right, I just found the key card." He smirked, and Gabriel blanched,

"No. Fucking. Way."

"So that means you rely on my to escape now, asshole. I think I deserve a ration, I'll be back."

Jared walked back into the dining hall, looking for a ration. But once he went into the pantry, he froze at the sight of Kevin, lying dead on the ground with a knife in his back, and his skin had a purple coloration.

"Kevin?" He ran over, and found the young man was dead, and the door to the lobby was wide open, "KEVIN!"

OoOoO

Maxine finished making soup that night, watching her game play out on her phone. It was quite entertaining, but Kelly knew what was up. The boy, Adrien, was very amusing with his fear of everyone.

She brought the hazelnut stew into one of the bedrooms of her small apartment. The facility where she was keeping the team could be seen a few blocks down. But she had more important tasks at hand.

The bedroom was furnished on a meagre budget but if was full of more warmth than Maxine had seen in many years. On the back wall was a mural, a tree with every color of fall leaf imaginable and a few more besides. On the crude pine bed was a hand embroidered orange cover. It was strange to be here again, but wonderful. A place to recover, to find her feet again and this was just the bedroom for it.

On the bed was Melanie, who looked like death warmed up as she had been for sixteen years. She coughed.

It was a barking cough. And at the end of each cough it had that whistling sound you get when the airways are closing up. They were coming thick and fast now and he was struggling to get enough air. It was croup for sure. The only thing that could help her now was a dose of steroids.

Sixteen years prior, Melanie got pregnant…and she had a boy. A stunning child, and their mother threw him into the fire before his mother could even hold him. But then she took extra measures, and shamed her daughter, using a burning rod and branded the word "Unclean" onto her own daughter's stomach, and destroying her body, rendering her barren.

The alternate version of Eli had been a miracle sent from Heaven. He could keep Melanie healthy, and she got to raise a little boy. But he realized the truth, and was back to being so sick she was on the brink.

When the infections took Melanie she was skin and bones, pale as a ghost, face masking the ordeal inside. Most days she asked Maxine or one of the other sisters to read her a story with Colin—that was what she had named her unborn baby—something pretty to help her mind escape. But there were times she screamed in pain and there was no doubting the agony.

Even under a light cotton sheet, she was radiating heat like a brick right out of the oven. He ate nothing but the most watery of soups, so diminished was his appetite. The sisters could hear her coughing and wheezing from clear outside the apartment, it was a barking cough that carried well though walls and the still late winter air.

"Hey Melanie…I brought you some soup."

"I don't want any." Maxine sucked in a breath and sat down on the bed with her,

"Sis…I'm playing one of my games if you want to watch." She pulled out her phone and it seemed Adrien was having a panic attack. Was she a bit sadistic? Yes. But she needed some form of amusement while caring for her sister.

The truth was, that was the moment most of the sisters turned on their mother. They pretended to play neutral, but none of them had thought the threat was real about having a boy, until that innocent little boy was murdered for the fact he was male.

They had known when Amelia had had a son, three months later, and while most of them had known—excluding Mara obviously, because she was the obnoxious suck up to their mother—none of them had said anything. They had pretended to play dumb about the whole thing. But the collective magic of the sisters shielded Eli, Mara only found him by accident.

_Two hundred of the Blackwell sisters were gathered around the tiny baby they had frozen time to see._

_"__He's beautiful." Melainia said, ticking the baby's feet, and he laughed, violet eyes twinkling, "Let's make sure it stays this way. I will gift you the gift of beauty." Glitter came from her hand and she vanished, and the sisters got in a line to bless the baby._

_"__The gift of kindness."_

_"The gift of love."_

_"__The gift of intelligence."_

_"__The gift of strength."_

_"__The gift of patience."_

_"__The gift of empathy." And so on and so on until all the witches were done._

_Macy smiled down at the baby, looking at the marks on his arm, and she put her fingers to them. Baby Eli stared at her curiously, and Macy smiled,_

_"__I just cast a magic spell on you. One day, when you're in trouble, the light within you will lead you to the light of another, your mate, someone who will keep you safe." The baby laughed, unaware of what that meant, and Macy put him back to bed with a kiss on the forehead._

Maxine had given him the gift of humor.

She wished they had been able to do the same for Melanie's son. This week was her week on alone watch duty, the week after was Maggie's.

"Are you sure you don't want to watch." Melanie nodded,

"Just give them the piece. We want to protect the boy…"

"I know." Maxine assured, "If I wanted to make it hard, I wouldn't have allowed them all to be friends."

"Then why do you have other things in there with them?" Maxine frowned,

"Fear not. Eli's mate will live. And unless things go extremely wrong, Kelly will too. The only ones in real danger are the Peacock, the Pixie, the Sorcerer, the Bear, and the Butterfly. Fear not. They will get the piece my tomorrow night I bet. I just need some fun."

Melanie nodded a little, "Oka…Colin said goodnight." Maxine kissed her forehead,

"Goodnight, sister."

**A/N: More story, and the start of a Nonary Game. **

**Remember to review and feed the author kwami.**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: To clarify, Eli is 17, but the witches learned he existed three months after Regina killed baby Colin.**

**Chapter 17: Distrust**

Jared gasped quietly at the sight of Kevin's dead body. But then glared when Maxine's voice came on the intercom,

"Well well, it seems a body has been discovered. Looks like one of you has a much stronger desire to survive. Can you feel it? That sinking empty feeling. The realization that one of your beloved allies is actually a heartless killer, no I am not saying Zoe did it…assuming she isn't the one dead. This recording is mainly to piss her off." Jared heard Zoe shout from one of the other rooms, suggesting she was extremely loud, or the facility wasn't as soundproof as previously claimed,

"Screw you, hoser!"

"Now… likely the question you are all asking yourselves at this very moment, is just what is going to happen next." They heard Maxine laugh, "This is where the game gets truly interesting."

Ten minutes later

"Why would I want to kill Kevin?" Jared asked after explaining the situation, "I was the one who found him like that. If anyone is suspicious, it's fucking Gabriel." Gabriel glared,

"You're just trying to pin the blame on me! My attention was completely on solving that weird door at the time! You could have easily snuck past me and done it yourself." He snapped, "Hell, you left me alone for less than a minute, so there is no way I could have went back to kill Kevin with my handicap, and what's my motivation?"

Eden put a hand on his shoulder, "Let's take a deep breath, and talk this though."

"What's there to talk about?" Pixie Girl asked angrily, "It's obvious Gabe was the one who killed him."

"Well let's see your evidence." Adrien defended, trying to convince himself that his father wasn't a villain again.

"Eden's right," Kelly agreed, "we need to figure out what happened first."

Emilie frowned, "Speaking of everyone, where is Zoe?"

"I don't know. She wasn't here when I came to the lobby." Jared said.

"Great!" Gabriel threw his hands up, "She's the _last_ person I want working behind the scenes!"

"Hm…she's in the pink room." Eden said, looking over the map.

"So she's fine then." Adrien sighed in relief,

"Um…are we sure it was one of us?" Emilie asked.

"What do you mean?" Pixie Girl questioned.

"Well, I don't want to believe any one of us killed Kevin, so maybe there's another person here who did it! Is that possible, Kels."

"That's actually not a terrible theory."

"But look at the length Maxine went to with this game." Jared pointed out, "She made sure it was completely fair, so why would she have someone killing us from behind the scenes? If she wanted us dead, she would have just killed us herself when she first brought us here."

"No, Emilie has a point." Kelly began pacing, "Remember what I said before. Maxine loves the game. There is the possibility she wants more entertainment, so she added another player. She doesn't care how hard the game is, because she always knows the outcome. She actually wants us to prove her wrong and succeed."

"What exactly are you basing this off of, Kelly?" Gabriel asked suspiciously.

"I've played all the _Dargonropa_ games. And I was one of the guinea pigs in the original runs of these games Maxine designed. This one is different from the others I've seen, but Maxine hasn't changed. This game in entirely capable to beat without anyone dying. Killing is just an option."

"Yes, and look how well that turned out. My partner is dead!" Pixie Girl snapped.

Jared glared, "You guys seriously don't understand, do you? Because the three of us went into the light blue area, the door shut, nobody else capable of coming in. Meaning the only people who could have killed Kevin are Gabriel and myself. You know…Gabriel is the only one who hasn't gone to see the body yet. Maybe you're feeling the pangs of guilt." He wasn't normally someone to point the finger, but they were in a killing game, and Jared knew full well he wasn't the one to kill Kevin, meaning in his eyes the only other person was Gabriel.

"Why would I waste my time examining the body when you all made it crystal clear what happened?" Gabriel returned the glare, "He was killed by a knife in the back, case closed."

"A knife that was taken from the kitchen." Eden said, examining the knife/

Adrien raised a hand, "Are we really sure Kevin died from the knife wound though?"

"What do you mean?" Kelly asked.

"Didn't you guys notice the slightly discolored purple skin and the two puncture marks on his wrist? Not to mention his rather bug-eyed expression. This all suggests he wasn't killed by the knife would, but rather—"

"The poison."

"Wait," Emilie crossed her arms, "so you're saying that Kevin was actually killed because he broke the rules of the game? Then why was the knife there?"

"Probably someone was attempting to tamper with the crime scene." Pixie Girl said, "And from what Zoe told me, you have quite a bit of experience with that, don't you Gabriel."

"Do you honestly think I would incriminate myself by leaving a weapon from the room I was currently in!? Why would I have to gain from that?"

"Fair enough."

"So the knife was just used to mislead us as to the real cause of death." Jared nodded, "Maxine could have easily planted it after he died. And if he died from breaking the rules, then the only person to blame is Kevin himself!"

"That means nobody is the killer!" Emilie cheered.

"I wish that was the case." Eden said, pulling up her hood on her pink sweatshirt, "But I still think someone else is responsible for Kevin's death. I can't imagine he would break the rules, which means he must have performed his forbidden action."

"But I'm sure he knew exactly what it was." Kelly said.

She shook her head, "Not necessarily. Did anyone see him check?" A moment of silence, before Gabriel spoke,

"No. But he was alone for a while, so he must have checked."

"Well, because the whereabouts of his bracelet are currently unknown, we have to piece it together ourselves." Jared pointed to Kelly, "Kelly, can you follow your freaky chain?"

"No. When someone dies, they are severed from the chain. If I had made a drawing of him, I could, but I can't. Not to mention even if I had, all of our shit has been taken. Pixie, any ideas?"

Pixie Girl nodded, "Well he was the only one of us with his weapon—his staff—so knowing him, his forbidden action was likely not to use magic."

Eden started drawing on a chalkboard, "So basically what happened was the killer came up from behind, stabbed him in the back, and he auto-used magic to defend himself, but that triggered his forbidden action."

"Meaning whoever attacked him will likely have freezer burn or something, because he is known for using blue fire according to the files I just read. So time for you two men to undress for us." They all turned and saw Zoe, holding up her bracelet to reveal she had gotten a key card,

"Zoe, when the fuck did you get here?" Jared asked.

"I went into the pink room and got the key card by reading Eli's file, so shut the fuck up and strip."

"Why do I have a feeling that isn't the first time you've said that to someone?" Jared asked.

"Because I'm pregnant and the more confident of the two of us in that relationship."

"Fine. Whatever. I don't have anything to hide." Jared stripped and a) Adrien was jealous of his abs and wondered how he was still in the virgin club and b) he had no freezer burns whatsoever. So he put his pants back on, followed by his shirt. Everyone turned to Gabriel,

"Gabriel…."

"For the love of god, I am in a wheelchair!"

"Ergo, you just need to take your shirt off." Zoe said, "And I don't want to see the whole McMeal of yours anyway. Besides, while Jared had short shelves, you have a jacket you could have easily taken off."

"Forget this, we don't have time to be messing around." Gabriel started going off to find the fourth key card, but Jared—now fully clothed—grabbed his arm,

"Hold on Gabe, we're not done yet!" But Gabriel shrieked in pain, pulling his arm away, "Wait…what was that? Could it be that—"

"I'm not hiding anything, now get out of my way!"

Zoe turned to her brother, "Adrien—"

"I'm on it." Adrien jumped onto his father and went boneless, rendering Gabriel unable to move.

"W-What do you think you're doing?!"

"Let's see what we've got here." Jared pulled up Gabriel's sleeve, to reveal rather nasty freezer burn, "I knew it."

Gabriel pulled his arm away, "That's nothing! I got it from the literal actual freezer, the one I was trying to solve the puzzle for!"

Adrien had puppy eyes, "Father, was it you? Did you really kill Kevin?"

"NO! For the last time, I did nothing! None of you have any concrete evidence I'm really the killer! You all are just passing theories, and because I was _formerly_ a supervillain, suddenly I'm the prime suspect. We don't even know for certain that was Kevin's forbidden action! You all are just grasping at straws in hopes of finding an easy answer! Believe what you want, make me out to be the killer if it makes you feel better! Now for the last time. Let. Me. GO!"

Eden sighed, "I'm sorry, but even if they're just theories, the evidence still points to you. We can't let you wander around on your own anymore."

"What are you going to do?" He snapped, "Kill me and make an orphan of my daughter?"

"No. We're just going to ensure you can't do any harm." And then she punched him into unconsciousness.

OoOoO

Gabriel woke up with one hell of a headache. And then saw Kelly all up in his face,

"Good morning sleepyhead!"

He pushed Kelly's face away, then noticed his arm was asleep, and he was handcuffed to a pipe in the kitchen, right next to the freezer, "Huh, what the hell is this?"

"You look like you were having some rather vivid dreams. Could they possibly be sex dreams?" The telepath wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"That is none of your business! More importantly, what am I doing here?! And why am I handcuffed to this pipe?!"

Kelly shrugged, "It's because you potentially killed Kevin! We can't have a potential murderer running free."

"Good lord, you're still going on about that?" Gabriel asked, rolling his eyes.

"Well the evidence against you is pretty damning. Why are you so surprised?" This earned a loud groan from Gabriel,

"Half of you are Americans and the judicial system sucks in America! And why are you here? Where is everyone else?"

"The others are out looking for the other two key cards, and I was tasked with keeping an eye on you. Just to make sure you don't get into any mischief." He twirled a knife in his hand, as more of a fidget than anything, but…

"Wait, that knife you're holding, isn't that the same one as—"

"Yup! The same one that was used to stab our dear Kevin. It was unfortunately the only knife in the room, so I kind of had to make do. You know, in case you try anything."

"This is completely unnecessary. You of all people should know that!" Gabriel tugged on the handcuff, because he couldn't stand as he was merely on the floor and not his wheelchair, "Where the hell did you even find handcuffs anyway?" He prayed the other man hadn't had them on his person, because that could mean any sort of thing.

"I found them earlier while searching the library. Oh! And I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of checking your forbidden action." He gestured towards Gabriel's bracelet with the knife, "You really should have brought it up, because it would have really helped your case."

"Well clearly it didn't. Otherwise I wouldn't be stuck in here with _you_."

"I suppose so." Kelly sat crosslegged, "So what's the meaning behind that door?" He pointed to the freezer symbols,

"I don't know, I've spent my entire time here trying to figure that out." Kelly looked at it for a minute, before grabbing a pencil and drawing the symbols on the cement floor, combining them.

"Looks like a waffle if you combine them, at least it does to me." Gabriel looked over, and grinned broadly,

"Kelly! You're a genius! Grab that box of waffles!" Kelly grabbed the box of microwave Eggo Waffles from the counter, pulling out a silver key, "Perfect!"

Kelly opened the door, and the room was empty, other than an ear-splitting noise that brought Kelly to his knees, clutching his head. Then the noise stopped, and was replaced with the sound of beeping, and Kelly falling over as his arm started discoloring purple.

Then Gabriel remembered that loud noises triggered headaches for Kelly, and such headaches made him auto-use his mind powers…his forbidden action was—!

Kelly Carpenter. Forbidden Action: Using Mind Powers

"Kelly! Goddamnit!" Gabriel used his all and grabbed the hood of Kelly's sweatshirt to bring him over. He needed to find a way to get away, or stop the poison. Lest they body die.

Gabriel Agreste. Forbidden Action: Being in the same room as a dead body.

He took the knife from Kelly's pocket, using it to slice the rusty chain clean off. So he could run…actually he couldn't. He was still practically crippled, and Kelly was fading fast. But the poison hadn't made it past his forearm yet…

He knew what he had to do, "Fuck. Sorry Kelly." He grabbed a tourniquet that was conveniently on the floor—and he had a suspicion Kelly had had it on his person and dropped it, and wrapped it tightly around Kelly's arm. Then he sucked in a breath and hacked away at the poisoned limb until the arm fell off. The tourniquet was on tight enough that no blood would leak out, and that was good.

Kelly looked at him gratefully through half-lidded eyes, he was even smiling.

"Don't look at me like that. I didn't do this to help you. I had no other choice, my forbidden action made sure of that."

"Then why…did you use…the tourniquet?" Gabriel frowned. He didn't want to admit the truth, that he knew Emilie had feelings for the telepath, and he considered Kelly a friend. So he went with the other reasons,

"I couldn't risk you dying on me while I was trying to remove your arm. And Zoe would literally skin me alive if I let you die. Besides, do you know how much my clothing costs?" He tried to hoist him up, "Come on, let's get you to the lobby."

Then Kelly passed out from shock, and Gabriel huffed. This got a whole lot harder.

Fifteen agonizing minutes later

Gabriel trying to get Kelly into the lobby was like the Little Mermaid trying to drag Prince Eric all the way to the city with nothing but her tail. Ergo, a pain in the ass.

"Someone! Kelly needs help!" It took five minutes for him to drag Kelly the three feet to the grey couch. It was Emilie who came in first from the green room,

"Kelly?!" She rushed to his side, and while Gabriel had gotten over her, he still felt a small pang of jealousy. "Kelly?! Can you hear me?" Kelly didn't respond, and Emilie helped them both onto the couch.

Zoe and Eden came next from the yellow room, looking for clues as to find the elusive fifth. "Dad?!" Zoe immediately had her nails in Gabriel's throat—not strong enough to kill, but strong enough to leave marks.

"What did you do to him?!"

"I saved his like and spent fifteen minutes dragging him to help! He can vouch when he wakes up. We opened that freezer door and it triggered his forbidden action! So unless you wanted us both to die, you're welcome."

Zoe was interrupted from responding by the TV coming on again.

While that was happening

Adrien wandered the sewer-like conditions of the green room,

"This hallway is more claustrophobic than I would like." He mused to himself, "Better not linger here long. Mom? Pixie?" He knew they were the other occupants of this room.

He wandered around a bit until he discovered a white room one would find in an office, "Is this a conference room? Jeez, did they have business here or something?" He continued to look around until something caught his eye.

It was an old painting. There were twelve people in said painting. It seemed to be a young girl on her birthday, and her family were urging her to blow out the candles. But two people caught his attention more than the others. One was Kelly, who looked no older than eleven—but his eyes were so trademark there was no way it wasn't him—and a girl who also looked eleven, with short blonde hair and violet eyes.

This had to be there for a reason. Adrien looked down at his bracelet, frowning, before grabbing a chair and throwing it at the painting, causing it to fall.

He took the painting and examined the back.

Blackwell family, 1995. Maxine's 14th birthday

His bracelet beeped and the word RECEIVED appeared. He must have gotten the key card! That was four of five!

Adrien jumped when he heard the sound of footsteps and a masculine chuckle, "Who's there?" Maybe his mother and Pixie Girl left and Jared was playing a joke on him. He stepped outside the conference room and back into the sewers or something,

"Weird… I don't see anyone…" He shrugged, "Just in case though, I better move quickly."

He started running to the exit, when someone shoved him, and he fell into the wall. His bracelet beeped and his wrist started turning purple, "No…."

Adrien Agreste. Forbidden Action: Touching Walls.

He got a look at his attacker, and realized his mother's theory of a tenth player was right, "You…"

The man was a good-looking, lean, and clean cut individual. He was probably Jared's height, and had black slicked-back hair, very dark brown eyes, and a fair complexion. He wore black clothing with an open shirt, a belt, and a matching coat.

The man unclipped Adrien's bracelet and threw it onto the floor, grabbing Adrien by the collar.

"You're not going to die." He said, and his voice was cold, "At least, not yet. My Mistress has a certain use for you that makes you too valuable to die. For now at least." He shoved the contents of a vial down Adrien's throat, and the poison started leaking from his skin. And then he was unconscious.

Back to Zoe's team

The screen came on and Maxine appeared, only everyone gasped when they saw Adrien unconscious and tied up in a chair.

"This message it prerecorded. But only by a few minutes. His bracelet has a key card and is in the green room. Now for the fifth, you need to find me. I'm not in the facility, so you need to find a way out that's not from the door, nor breaking any walls. Breaking any walls will lead to your termination via injection. There is no time limit, for anybody except Eli," she held up the black box, "So good luck." The screen went black, and Emilie and Gabriel both roared while Zoe threw a vase.

"Not again!" Gabriel shrieked, "I can't lose Adrien again!"

"Well we won't." Eden said, "So there must be another way out of here in the lobby. There was a key card in each room, so…Dad is out…Pixie, go get Adrien's bracelet, the rest of us, look!"

Everyone tore through the room, until Zoe found something,

"Jared, pick me up. I found something."

"Why do I pick you up?"

"Because you are by far the tallest of us, since Gabe can't walk. So shut up and do it." Jared huffed and picked her up like she and the twins in her womb weighed nothing. She smacked the ceiling panel and winced at the sunlight. She gestured for him to lift her higher, and she pulled down a rope latter.

"How did you notice that?" Pixie Girl asked.

"Dad taught me an attention to detail, like how Henry raised Shawn in _Psych_, except gentler. So who's going?" Eden needed to join in, otherwise her forbidden action would kick in,

"Emilie, stay with Gabriel and Dad." She ordered, "Jared, Pixie, come on."

Once they were at the top, they saw a chest, full of their weapons and Miraculouses. Zoe slipped on Adrien's Miraculous and transformed, knowing to not use anything more than Cataclysm.

Eden transformed with the Peacock Miraculous that Emilie had been using, becoming Mayuri—which was the real female term for Peacock, Mayura being the male term.

"So I see what looks like an apartment past the woods. So let's go," Mayuri said, "I…guess."

**A/N: Adrien has been kidnapped, great. And Gabriel proved he wasn't a 100% asshole. Current unknown forbidden actions are Emilie's, Pixie Girl's and Jared's. Guess what they are. **

**And Kelly has been disarmed...I'll go home. Kemilie fluff shall ensue next chapter with Gabe being the awkward third wheel.**

**And remember to review for the author kwami!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18: The first rescue of many and another character**

Emilie stayed by Kelly's side while Gabriel got things to clean the gaping wound.

Kelly rested in the half-light, utterly still, eyes open as if admiring the heavens. As her footfalls approached from helping Gabriel get some water, he remained still and a cursory glance was enough to know he was in shock, looking almost dead. His lips were blue, skin pale—almost grey, which made Gabriel extremely guilty, because he saw Zoe when she was in a coma—eyes dulled.

He stared through them as if they were ghosts and their voices seemed to pass right through his head as if it were so much meaningless wind. Occasionally, his brow would furrow as if to indicate that some kind of thought was forming, but then his face would relax again into the same stupid, slack jawed expression. If it weren't for his open eyes she would assume he was sleeping...or dead. His breath was slow and even but his limbs were as still as a cadaver—excluding his arm that was still in the freezer. Even when Emilie played loud music to stir him nothing happened, not even a twitch.

She hadn't meant to develop feelings for him, she really hadn't. But he was such a loving father to his daughters, and had practically taken Adrien in as his own. He had woken her up, and he had been the one to pull her out of the slump of her breakup—even if he hadn't intended to as strongly as he had. He had become a very close friend, and she found herself falling in love.

Falling in love with him was like entering a house and finally realizing she was home. When he smiled at her, she felt invisible hands wrapping around her, making her feel safe. When his eyes were locked on hers, it was like she could see galaxies instead of just pupils. Having him in her life made her feel like everything was possible in this world, like she could conquer anything. She didn't regret meeting him and she knew he might be her second love, but what she really wished in life was for him to be her last.

"Come on…" she wrapped him in a quilt she found, "You gotta wake up."

The quilt was colored in in blues and creams, the colors of the ocean. Every pattern was of foliage or flower in flowing swirls, as if together, in print and hue, it told of the oneness of Earth.

Gabriel came in with more rations, "Any change?" She shook her head.

"No. Nothing has changed. Not sure anything will." Gabriel wheeled over to her side. Things were still awkward between them, but they both loved their son, and cared for their friends. So they were friends, nothing more.

"Come on," Gabriel smiled a little, "He's too stubborn to die. If I was worried about Kelly not being fine, I would have gone to save Adrien and had Zoe stay here, because being near dead bodies will literally kill me. What's your forbidden action?"

Emilie Estrega. Forbidden Action: Falling asleep

"Oh." Gabriel frowned, "I guess that makes sense. But come on, Kelly will be fine. We have four of the five key cards, and then we get the soul piece from behind the door. But I don't think you really have to worry about the sleeping, right?"

"Wrong. Kels gave me back that two years, as you know, so my system regulated."

"Well shit. More coffee for you then." He groaned, "If Harrison was here, he could use his genius to deactivate the bracelets and open the door on his own. He's already turned my missiles into all sorts of things." She smiled.

"I hope Zoe gets back soon."

"I do too, Em. I do too."

Meanwhile

"What the fuck?!" Mayuri jumped as another Tree Wolf jumped down. Yes. Tree Wolves. And they worked like a video game, so they couldn't be in one place for longer than a few minutes as after they killed one, two Tree Wolves would appear. At least they got a packet of wolf jerky for each wolf they killed. Was wolf jerky tasty? No. It tasted like zombie flesh. But it worked.

But they did have two severe problems.

Pixie Girl. Forbidden Action: Teamwork.

Jared Brock. Forbidden Action: Combat.

So Zoe/LadyNoir couldn't kill, Jared/Goreclaw couldn't fight, and Pixie Girl couldn't help. So this left Eden/Mayuri to fight all on her lonesome. And since she was the least combat experienced of the four of them and hated hurting animals, that was bad.

Pixie Girl had since reverted from her humanoid-superhero form to her pixie form, which meant she was small—about the size of a small kitten—with her ponytail accented by a yellow and brown shell. She donned a light brown dress and had transparent wings. The bracelet had been customized for this, and was still around her tiny wrist. But at least they didn't need to share the wolf jerky with her.

It looked like a mile or so to the other buildings, but these woods were like a video game—larger than they looked.

Back to fighting Tree Wolf #86.

Mayuri smacked it in the face with her fan. Her attire really made it hard to fight in though.

While she kept her original eye, skin and hair colors, replacing that with a dark blue mask, the rest of her outfit was much like Natalie's as Mayura. She wore a blue dress with long sleeves that ended in a point on the back of her hand. The bottom of the dress had a front slit skirt, and the end of the skirt had rounded points with dark blue, light-pink-centered spots, resembling a peacock's tail feathers. The rounded points were edged with translucent, light blue material. Underneath the dress, she had translucent indigo tights that were opaque from the knees down, making the opaque section resemble high heeled boots.

"Why must you all be useless!" She groaned, kicked the wolf down and finishing it off. There was no blood. The body just disappeared and wolf jerky was in its place.

"I don't mean to be unhelpful." Jared said—because there was really no point to burning Viirus' energy when he couldn't do anything anyway—"I just have died once already and would rather not do that again—no Zoe, I am not referring to the Cold Oak Incident." That was what they called their time in the Ice Waste that lead to Jared getting stabbed.

"I figured not." Zoe was leaning against a tree, because carrying around twins at magically six months took its toll. She looked like she would be at nine months if she was only having one child.

"Sis, do you need to go back?"

"No." She straightened, "I'm fine. Let's just say baby kicks aren't cute with twins. Besides, we need to save Adrien."

"Why not just leave him there?" Jared asked, "I give it an hour after they realize he can infect people with his curse for them to let him go voluntarily."

"Because Maxine is a powerful witch." Pixie Girl said, "So she probably has something to block out the curse. And we need the fifth card to unlock the safe door."

"Why not just blow it up?"

Pixie Girl flew onto his shoulder, "Because something tells me that would get us killed."

"How does you giving useful advice not count as teamwork?" Zoe asked, and Pixie Girl shrugged,

"My guess is that it only tracks my physical actions, so I can't assist in combat, but it can't control what I say. That or it doesn't care about us just walking."

They continued to walk uneventfully until they came across the buildings…surrounded by a moat. The moat had rapid currents and a trail of rocks to get to the other side.

"Well…good luck." Pixie Girl said, flying across with no problem. Zoe frowned,

"Okay, jumping is kind of a no for me. And my powers are weaker here…" Jared just groaned and picked her up again, jumping onto the first stone with Mayuri.

"What? You don't weigh much to me," He said nonchalantly, "And I would rather get this over with and just carry you than have to wait here and protect you."

Zoe looked up at him, "Thanks Jared."

They made it to the edge, where Pixie Girl was waiting,

"How much do you wanna bet Adrien is on the top floor?"

"None." Mayuri said, "Look up at the third floor. That's where the lighting is, and I can sense a strong electronic power source, so unless there are five hundred microwaves going off, it's Maxine. So up we go."

The walk up was quiet. Too quiet. So either there was a big surprise attack, or they were missing something. The door wasn't even locked!

"Adrien!" Zoe called, looking around the seemingly empty room, "Where are you?"

"That is not a good idea." Jared snapped, "Are you trying to get us caught?"

Mayuri detransformed, "Hm…" The room looked pretty normal, other than a computer from the 80's. It was open, and had open the bar that would be used for a cheat code. "I have an idea." Her Dad had taught her many cheat codes, but the most common one for the 80's was the following, as she clicked the keys:

"Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, a, b, a, b, sub, start." She pressed enter and a bookcase moved to reveal a staircase.

"Okay." Zoe smiled, then it faded, "I cannot be the only one thinking this is too easy."

"You're not the only one." Jared agreed, "Try not being able to fight at all. You only have to worry about not _killing_ things." Zoe sighed and walked up the stairs, finding Adrien sleeping tied up in a chair behind iron bars.

"Adrien!" Adrien looked up, and brightened when he saw who it was. He tried to speak, but he was gagged.

"I'm glad you came." All four members of the rescue team turned to face Maxine and the man who had taken Adrien. Maxine looked more intimidating in person, but only by a little. She was wearing casual sweats.

"What do you want?" Jared growled. Maxine just chuckled,

"It's cute you think you can scare me. But I'm not here to fight." She kissed the dark-haired man, "Please don't mind Finn covering up the Sorcerer's real cause of death, I just needed more to the game. Neither of us bear you ill will."

"If you supposedly mean no harm," Eden asked, "then why kidnap Adrien?"

"I needed you to have motivation to keep playing the game and not just break in, swipe the card and leave, but to actually have me talk with you. Eden, you will find you already got the fifth by putting in the passcode." Eden looked and saw she did get it. Maxine pulled out the black box from her cabinet and gave it to Zoe.

"If you were just going to give us the box, why do you want to talk?" Jared asked, "And what is really behind that door."

"The key to unlock your bands, and a couple healing elixirs." Maxine responded, "I wanted to talk, because only a few of the sisters truly mean you harm. Most of us are secretly on your side. Mother entrusted me with this piece because I only value the game and have no bias as to who lives or dies, but this time she was wrong. Eli is my nephew, protect him."

"Thank you?" Zoe asked, "Can we take Adrien now?"

"Yes of course. I had to tie him up like that because Mother tried to check on me. By all means, take him, and Zoe…" Zoe turned, and Maxine gave her a card,

"What's this?"

"A wildcard. You're earned it. Use this card," she gave the young Worldbender an Uno Reverse card, "For times of trouble. But keep the wildcard, it will help you in times of trouble."

"Thank you." She smiled as Maxine unlocked all of their bands and freed Adrien. Maxine snapped her fingers and a stairwell appeared,

"This is a shortcut to the facility. Come on."

The walk took less than ten minutes, and they came up from a floor panel in the freezer. Maxine walked to the safe door and used the key cards from the bracelets she had unlocked to open the door, pulling out a couple healing potions and gently pouring them down Kelly's throat.

"Swallow…" Kelly came to a moment later, rubbing his eyes, then noticing his lack of arm,

"What happened to my arm?" Emilie hugged him,

"Gabriel needed to cut it off to save you."

"No biggie." Maxine pulled out…an arm? "I designed this a while ago, it works like a normal arm." She fastened it on, "So, how does it feel?"

"Like…like my normal arm. Jesus, there are nerves and everything."

"And blasters." Kelly looked like a child on Christmas.

"That's so cool!"

"My pleasure." Maxine sighed, "None of you were actually meant to get hurt. Kevin didn't check his forbidden action and tried to light a fire to warm up the room, but I wanted to have some fun with it and had Finn add the knife."

"So he really died of his own stupidity." Pixie Girl said sadly.

"Yeah. I am sorry about your arm, Kels."

Kelly laughed, "I knew you were just playing the game. I've known you for a while, Max. And you gave me a fucking blaster arm! We're all good!"

"Did he seriously just forgive the bitch who had us all in a killing game?" Jared asked.

"Yeah." Gabriel shrugged, "For some reason, he is quite forgiving of people."

"Kelly! How could you?!" Kelly laughed at Maxine's expense.

"You got me poison! So naturally I will plant dirty thought of you and your boyfriend as punishment, even if you did make me a badass arm!"

"You bastard!"

"Bitch!"

"Cabbage Head!"

"Clotpole!"

"Psycho!"

"Assbutt!"

"Okay, this is gonna get emotionally scarring if we let this continue." Adrien grabbed Kelly and dragged him outside to the Gummi Ship, "Thank you for not killing us, Maxine!"

OoOoO

They were listening to Hamilton. Was this a shocker? No. Since Jared had thrown the radio into the Lanes Between seconds before they all got knocked out, all they had was Zoe's phone because she had enchanted it to always be at 100% battery.

"I just realized Zoe is basically Alexander." Adrien said, "Smart, a bit of an asshole, and will fight anyone."

"Wait…" Eden grinned, "Eli…_Eli_za! And he is Helpless around Zoe." The violet orb flew out of the box,

"Don't even start."

Zoe turned to Kelly, "Is Eli short for Elijah?"

"No. But that was a damn missed opportunity!" The orb was flying around as though trying to not cry.

"What the hell are you all talking about?" Jared asked. Zoe turned,

"Hamilton. What else?"

"Don't know. Haven't seen it." Jared shrugged, "I'm not really into musicals."

Adrien immediately started praying, "God, please give Jared peace as he passes on. He didn't deserve to die at the hands of pregnant Zoe…"

Five minutes later

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry!" Jared was begging for forgiveness and Adrien was still praying.

Kelly laughed, "Can we get back to this amusing conversation? I knew I should have named her Alexandra! Zoe, change your name!" He tried to use his mind powers to convince her, but she swatted him away.

"We all just survived a Nonary game and are talking about this?!" Gabriel asked, both parts amused and appalled.

"Wait…" Emilie grinned, "Kelly was the president, and a general. George Washington!" Kelly turned to Zoe,

"Son—"

"I AM NOT YOUR SON!"

"You are my daughter, and I call you 'Dude'. Ergo, son." Kelly said with a laugh.

"I am pregnant. Ergo, girl, ergo, daughter."

Pixie Girl frowned, "Who would be Philip Hamilton?" Everyone looked at Zoe's stomach, and decided to remain silent, except Jared,

"What?"

"Philip was Hamilton's first born," Eden explained, "and he died at the age of nineteen to a bullet wound."

"Oh. Then it was smart to be silent."

"Yeah."

This conversation went on for about a half hour until they got back to their world.

"Okay." Gabriel got off frantically, "Zoe and Kelly, both of you go to the hospital and check yourselves in. I need to go be a good father to my child."

"That's a first." Adrien mumbled, getting flipped off by his father—because the therapy said to treat him like a friend first and evolve into parent.

"Fuck you. I would just rather not have to go to literal therapy with my daughter like I do my son."

One hour later

Dr. Winston was so done with them. He took one look at them both and just dragged them both back. He was horrified by Kelly's situation, but was relieved that he was fine.

"Zoe, your twins are fine. They're actually more than fine, perfectly healthy. See, look at them wriggling around. They've probably started kicking, am I right?"

"Yeah. And it sucks when they kick together."

He chuckled, "That sounds about right. You seem roughly 27 weeks, so you are about to start the third trimester." Third trimester?! She had been pregnant for two months!

The babies were moving around Zoe was quick frankly annoyed by it. Maybe if she had her Eli by her side, it would be cute, but she had things to do and places to be.

"Can I go now?"

"Sure. Please don't come back with someone dying, and keep checking in as your due date approaches."

"And when is my due date?" She asked.

He shrugged, "Assuming you don't have any more freak accelerations, the due date would be February 25th."

"Thanks."

OoOoO

She woke up on Destiny Islands again.

She was wearing a form-fitting nightgown which was a pristine white. It pooled around her like liquid silk, which caressed her skin like a cool autumn breeze.

"Eli, my love! Where are you? I know what we're having!" She ran up to the tree, only to not find him there, "Eli? Hero, this isn't funny! Where are you?!"

"Hello?" Zoe turned, then frowned when she saw a teenage boy that wasn't Eli.

The boy was about Eli's height, and was scrawny but handsome, with a tanned complexion. He had short black hair and violet.

Then a girl appeared. She look a lot like Eli, but taking more after Harrison. She was a beautiful, curvy woman with dark brown hair, grey-green eyes, full lips, and larger than average breasts.

Both people were wearing castaway-like clothing and walking around like they were lost. Zoe took the hand of the boy first,

"Hey, are you okay?" He looked at her,

"I-I-I…I'm looking for my mother, where is she?"

"I don't know. Can you tell me your name?"

"Colin. Colin Blackwell." That name didn't sound familiar. The boy looked so sad and lonely, "Please find my mother, I'm scared, and feel like I'm burning." She hugged him,

"I'll find your mother. I promise." He vanished and she went to the girl, "Hey, what's your issue?" The girl turned,

"I'm waiting for someone to find me. I'm so alone in the universe. Not even my own brother can find me." Her attire shifted into a light blue dress; it had sleeves that went halfway down her arm, with a ribbon and white mesh; the bodice had crossed pink ribbons down the middle and was blue on the outside; the skirt was blue with white and pink in the middle, with flowers on the white part.

"Okay. Find the mother and find this chick. What's your name?" The girl brightened,

"Camille Eloise Sommers." She started to fade as Zoe took her hand,

"Wait, Sommers?!" But then she was gone.

"Princess! You're here!" She turned and finally saw her husband and mate running to see her, kissing her firmly.

"Oh I've missed you. Every day is a struggle." She said, placing his hands on her stomach, "Eli…we're having twins. A boy and a girl." She feared he would double over in shock and run, but she knew better. But she did not expect him to grin widely and spin her like she weighed nothing at all.

"Oh my Fireheart, I love you." He said, holding her close, "There is no limit to what I can give to you, no time I need. Even when this world is a forgotten whisper of dust between the stars, I will love you. To whatever's end." He took her hands, "Come on. The night is young. And we haven't exactly had a honeymoon.

And so they traveled the small island together, swimming and laughing and making s'mores and cuddling as they watched the stars.

Kelly watched them with a smile, having followed her into her dreams.

"Would you have thought our children to be mates?" He turned and saw Amelia sitting with him. He had gotten the "I'm so happy to see you!" out of his system the night after Zoe got herself married, having sensed Amelia's handiwork on his eldest.

"Not at all." He laughed, "And I see from the ring you have been teaching Eli how to use his powers."

"Not exactly. All I had to do was mention he had them, and he started doing it himself. He can't fall asleep, so he has time. He scrapped so many, wanting that ring to be perfect for her."

"Well she loves it and never takes it off. Warlock silver in immune to everything, so she even keeps it on in the bath." He sighed, "Does he know about Camille?"

"No." Amelia looked away, "You shouldn't have made Harrison and I forget about her. Not only was that wrong, but you exhausted yourself."

"Your infant daughter died at a month old! Eli was still the living twin, and I couldn't bear to have you live through that pain. How was I supposed to know at the time that Camille is alive in an alternate version?"

"You didn't know. I understand." Amelia just pulled at her hair, "Please Kels, promise me something."

"Anything, what is it?"

Amelia looked back to where Eli was laughing as Zoe told him a story of some sort, "Look after him, and find Camille, bring her home. I can't bear to lose my babies." He took her hand and kissed her forehead,

"I promise." Amelia punched his arm,

"And just kiss Emilie already!" He laughed with her, using his powers to ensure the newlyweds didn't hear.

The sun came up and Kelly saw himself start to fade, meaning Zoe was waking up,

"Well, it was good to see ya, Sparrow."

She smiled, "You too, Lionheart."

**A/N: Yup. Camille exists, and will be introduced. The next world will lead to a very funny situation for Adrien, first bad things, then humor. Camille will be introduced three worlds from now.**

**And remember to review to feed Cheeto!**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: This is again one of the shorter worlds. Tons of Plagg and Adrien fluff shall occur.**

**Chapter 19: Fae**

The team this time was Kelly, Adrien, Zoe, Eden, Hana and Emilie. And they were in a rainforest. The first night had gone fine, other than Adrien losing a chunk of his leg to an alligator while bathing in the river and had to be healed by Eden.

But right now, Hana was naked in the river, and Eden was debating whether or not to join in, turning a shade of pink that Hana would have found lovely if she saw it.

"Come on, just talk to her." Zoe urged on, nudging her sister a little, "It's not hard to talk to the person you like."

"Says you!" Eden said nervously, "You're the most confident person I know. I would die of embarrassment before I do half the things you do."

"I am pretty damn awesome." Zoe giggled, "I mastered being eternally clean and always smelling like vanilla and cinnamon—but you reek, so you need to bathe."

Eden sighed, "Fine." She started stripping and Zoe floated up into a tree, and found Adrien there as well.

"Adrien you sick twisted pervert!"

"It's not like that!" Adrien defended, "I'm a shipper the same as you, so I have Corl. That and I don't want either being eaten like I was, so I'm keeping lookout." Corl was what they had named Kelly's trusty blackmailing camera that had survived for twenty years.

"That's fine." Zoe sat down with him. Adrien smiled,

"How are the twins?"

"Fine. But they don't know when it is time to stop wriggling." She poked her stomach with a chuckle, "You don't know at all, do you? Roxas, stop kicking me—don't you start Aelin!"

"Roxas and Aelin?" Zoe nodded,

"Yeah. Eli named Aelin, I found a way to talk to him. Aelin is a girl in Throne of Glass, and her nickname is Fireheart. And you know Roxas, ice cream loving cinnamon roll who just wants to be left the fuck alone by the drama. Both are OP badasses." Adrien laughed,

"Yeah." He looked back down at Hana and Eden splashing with the water, "They are so cute together. Once all of this is over, we can finally be a somewhat normal family."

"Let's hope." Zoe laughed, "But my babies are the children of a Warlock and a Worldbender, and Felix is a Nephilim. Normal isn't in my vocabulary and it isn't in theirs."

"True that." Adrien yelped in pain, and a parrot was sitting on the other side of the branch with him, a trickle of blood fell down his index finger.

"Adrien?" Plagg emerged, and Adrien's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell out of the tree, "ADRIEN!" Zoe floated down and saw Plagg floating around his chosen, trying to find the problem.

It was still strange to see the lazy kwami so frantic. He even refused cheese in times like this! If Adrien was hurt, Plagg was a mess.

"What's wrong with him?!" Plagg asked nobody in particular, licking Adrien's cheek to try rousing him. Zoe looked up at the parrot still sitting innocently on the branch with its beak stained with Adrien's blood.

She shot it.

The parrot shrieked and then just…vanished? Maybe she blew it back to hell.

Then there was a spear in her face and a woman was there. She was rather plain looking, with dark hair and looked almost identical to the other women surrounding them.

"What brings you here?" She asked with a thick accent Zoe didn't recognize.

"We're looking for someone." Zoe said simply as Eden and Hana came over, now clothed. The woman grabbed Zoe's arm and dragged her up,

"You all are coming with us."

"Please," Zoe begged, "My brother has fainted!"

"We'll look him over when we get there. Now get moving!"

OoOoO

The city was like what historians thought the ancient civilizations looked like. But Zoe was most annoyed by seeing Miracle—the witch who had knocked her out in the _Tangled_ world—on the throne.

"Ms. Carpenter, we meet again." Miracle got up and looked at Adrien, who had been carried there. The Queen gestured and Emilie came out with Kelly—who seemed to have been drugged, three guesses why—and Emilie ran to Adrien, sending a death glare to Miracle,

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY SON!?"

"We have done nothing." Miracle said calmly, "The boy has Sunset Death, given its name by the fact that unless he gets the cure before the sun sets in three days time, he will die." Every gasped and looked to Adrien, who looked like he was starting to get a fever.

"Well let us go and we'll get the cure!"

"Why have you come?" She asked. It was Zoe who responded,

"There is a box here containing a fragment of my mate's soul." Miracle held up said black box, "Yes! Give it, bitch!"

"It's not so simple." Miracle responded, "You have trespassed on the Amazon Kingdom, and that is a transgression, so you must pass our challenge, and we will let you pass. If you fail…you won't like the results."

"And what is this challenge?" Hana asked.

"Bring the cure for the boy, water from the well in the center of that island," she gestured to a rather dangerous looking island a short distance away, "My tribe and I are leaving for a treaty, so bring the cure in three days, and we will give you the box. If you fail, the boy dies, the box is destroyed and we can do whatever we please with you." She sent a pointed look at Kelly on that last one for some reason. Then the tribe disappeared into thin air.

"Okay." Kelly massaged his temples, "The drug wore off. So…Zoe, stay here with Adrien, everyone else, we're off!"

"No." Emilie snapped, "I'm staying with my son."

"Em…" Kelly sighed, "You'll be no help if you are frantic, that energy will be better used to get the cure. I was a general, I know these things. Zoe is literally pregnant with twins, and she has medical training. We should go." Emilie sighed, looking to Zoe,

"Please take care of him."

"Don't worry. I will."

OoOoO

A day passed and Zoe was getting extremely impatient. No matter what she did, Adrien was getting worse. His veins were turning black and it was spreading up his arm. Whatever this illness was, it was of the magical variety.

Plagg was bringing her literally anything she could possibly need to help Adrien. He blamed himself, that was obvious. And while the bad luck curse may have had something to do with it, there was no way that was all of it.

But she was so impatient because nothing eventful had happened. The twins wriggled and kicked, and that was about it. She clenched her first around the hilt of Excalibur. She almost wished something _would_ attack, just so she would have something to do.

Adrien's cheeks were flushed red and the rare moments he would open his eyes, albeit just a crack, his eyes were so dilated they were black. His breathing was raspy and uneven.

"I hope that fancy water helps you, Adrien." To her surprise, Adrien opened his eyes—still just a crack, but he had been sleeping the last few hours.

"So do I…" he rasped. Zoe brushed his hair out of his face as it had plastered to his forehead.

"Shhh, don't talk. Save your strength."

"C-Cold…" and then he was asleep again. Zoe pulled a blanket out of her backpack and wrapped him in it,

"Is that better?" No response.

"Can you change me to human?" Plagg asked, "Like you did Blazze. I want to help, and being a three inch kwami doesn't exactly help." Zoe nodded and he shifted into a boy.

He was classically beautiful, which was expected of a god. He was tall, with dark hair, tan skin and piercing, almost glowing, bright emerald eyes. He wore an oversized dark grey hoodie and navy jeans with green sneakers. He looked no older than Zoe herself.

Plagg immediately ran off to fill a bucket of water for Adrien.

There was a rustle in the bushes and Zoe immediately hopped up, brandishing Excalibur,

"Who's there?" An elderly woman stepped out. She had light skin, grey-blue eyes, and long gray hair. She had a slim build, and was wearing a light green robe and had a gigantic backpack on. She set it down,

"Hello." The woman put her towering bag down, "I'm Jun. Are you an Amazon?" Zoe put the sword down,

"No." Jun brushed her robe down and walked over to Adrien.

"Sunset Death. Not good." She pulled some herbs out of her bag and crushed them up. Plagg came running back and Jun poured some of the water he had gotten into the wooden bowl and gently put the bowl to Adrien's lips, "Drink up, it will help with the pain." Adrien drank it gratefully and fell asleep again, this time with a delirious smile.

"Why should I trust you?" Zoe asked. Jun shrugged,

"Worldbender, what could I possibly do to you or the god of destruction?" Plagg frowned,

"You know what we are?"

"Neither of you are very good at masking your aura." She started brewing more herbs, "Do either of you have water from the well?"

"No." Plagg sighed, "The others are looking for it." Jun groaned,

"Stupid Amazons always using their herbs for menial injuries and not serious things." Adrien opened his eyes and swatted her a little bit,

"Pretty Elfie…" he slurred, clearly delirious. Jun rolled her eyes and placed a cold cloth on his forehead. She put her finger up before turning to Plagg,

"Can you carry him into that cover? It's going to rain."

"Why?" Zoe asked, "The rain is warm."

"The infection set in when the delirium started. It won't be to him." Plagg picked Adrien up and held him close, letting his chosen sleep in his lap instead of the hard ground.

"You're gonna be okay, Adrien." Plagg started to cry, "You're gonna be okay…I'm so sorry…" Jun pulled a comforter-sized fuzzy blanket out of her bag and wrapped Adrien in it like a sleeping infant.

"Wait, do the Amazons had the cure here?" Zoe asked. Jun shook her head,

"I doubt it. You would think a Blackwell witch would be smarter, but they always use up their resources. I've been telling them for thirty years there is another way to treat this illness, but they never listen."

"What's the other way?" Plagg asked, "I will travel to the end of the world to find it."

"No need to get all dramatic, you need the blood of the harpy who poisoned him. Do neither of you know what this place is yet?" They shook their heads, and Jun gave them both a potion to drink, and the whole world looked different.

The butterflies that were around were actually fairies, the stone castle was actually crystal, and the rainforest was an enchanted forest.

"Wow…" Zoe breathed. Jun nodded,

"Yes. That parrot was a harpy." Plagg's eyes widened, looking down at Adrien, who's lips had turned a lithe shade of blue,

"D-Do you think there is a chance he'll live?"

"Yeah. If you get the cure in time." She took Adrien's arm out of the blankets and noticed the black veins had spread up his neck, "He has until tonight."

"I thought he had three days?!" Zoe gasped. Jun shook her head,

"Harpy got a good bite in." Plagg put Adrien in Zoe's arms,

"I'm gonna go find that harpy if it's the last thing I do." He took two hooked knives from Zoe's bag and stalked off. Zoe got a text from her Dad in a group chat,

**K:** So…the well is empty. But on the bright side, I killed a dragon with my mind powers. Want a Darkling Dragon?

**Z:** Dad No! And how does one kill a dragon with your mind powers?!

**K:** I have no idea.

**Em:** How's Adrien?

**Z: **Not great. But an old lady named Jun came to help. I turned Plagg human and he went off the get the harpy to cure Adrien. Come on back.

Zoe looked up to Jun, "So the well was a bust. But I shot the harpy, so it can't have gone far."

"How does one shoot a harpy?!"

"Aim, pull trigger, not hard." Jun laughed,

"Well then, finding it won't be very hard. I am surprised it didn't go back to kill you in revenge. But having him drink the blood does have side effects."

"Like…?"

"He will become Fae, and there is a possibility he will start craving demon blood."

"Fae?" She felt dumb for asking, but she had heard the term in multiple forms.

"Fae, as in looks human other than pointed ears, and has a certain power depending on who the person is."

"So like the Sarah J. Maas books?"

"I don't know what that means." Zoe gave her one of the books and she read it with a nod, "Few minor differences, but the overall concept is the same." Jun smiled, and then another woman was sitting there. A Fae woman.

She had light skin, brown hair, and grey-blue eyes. She wore light red lipstick and pink eye shadow. The green robe was instead a purple dress with loose sleeves that reached her wrists; the bodice had a pattern down the middle with golden trim. The skirt was purple with a purple middle and has golden stripes. Her most striking feature was her ears, which were long and pointed.

"See what I mean?"

"Jun!?" Jun nodded.

"I was turned Fae in my youth." Jun explained, "I had grandchildren, yet always remained young. Eventually, I ended up here."

Kelly came into view, "Hey dude—who the fuck is that!?" Emilie pulled out a crossbow,

"Get away from him!" Zoe got up,

"Calm the fuck down! She's here to help!" Zoe pointed to Adrien, "He's not doing great, but he hasn't seen the Ooga Chucka Baby and I call that a win." Adrien was still so pale he was practically transparent. Emilie rushed to her son's side, taking in the weak breathing and the black veins.

"Just hang on…" She begged, "Plagg will be back soon." Adrien only responded by coughing up some blood.

Plagg came running in a badass manner with the dead harpy over his shoulder, and it seemed the kwami of destruction had used a nerf'd Cataclysm on the harpy's face. He threw the corpse at Jun,

"Okay. Here." Jun smiled and got some of the blood,

"Plagg, I expect you will be helping him with the whole Fae thing, being Fae yourself." Plagg nodded and Eden cocked her head,

"Kwamis are Fae?"

"Yeah." Plagg explained, gesturing to his pointed ears "We are some of the last Noble Fae. Adrien will become High Fae, but Nobles are extremely rare, and we need to stick to our animal forms most of the time, and it's hard to change back." Jun poured the potion down Adrien's throat just as the sun set.

For a moment, it seemed nothing had happened, then Adrien began to glow, and changing. When he was done, he was a few inches taller—probably 6'3 now instead of 5'11—and his ears were long and pointed, as well as his features were even more enhanced, making him all the more attractive.

He woke up and rubbed his head, "Mom? What happened?" He was crushed into a hug by his mother,

"You're alive!"

She gasped quietly as she saw something completely different.

It was her, a little older, maybe twenty. Holding a little boy with windswept blonde hair and violet eyes, and a little girl with dark hair and ice blue eyes ringed with gold.

"Mama! Mama!" The little girl was climbing on her, giggling and the little boy was holding up a drawing, "Look what Roxas and I made you and Dada!" It was a crayon drawing of their family, which was really good for being made by kids who couldn't be older than three. Felix had black angel wings.

The boy in question came in, looking roughly eight. His hair was officially brown and he was wearing a shirt with a pentagram on it—likely to mean _Supernatural_. He laughed and his eyes flashed fiery gold as the doll Aelin was holding flew out of her hands. She shrieked with delight and chased the doll around, grinning widely.

Then Eli came in, wearing an apron and holding what looked like spaghetti,

"Princess, you gotta teach me how to cook, I almost get the pasta on fire."

The whole family laughed as Zoe snapped back to reality.

Adrien was touching his ears, and it seemed he had flipped out a little. Eden shrugged,

"On the bright side, at least you live forever and stop aging at 24." She had her thumbs up like she was trying to convince him this was good. Jun got up,

"I'll be back in a minute. I need to have a word with someone." She shifted into a falcon and flew away.

Adrien looked at his reflection in the water bucket, looking to Plagg—who was back to being an animal on his shoulder—who smiled widely.

"So I'm going to watch you all grow old and die. Great." he sighed and got up, stumbling a little. Jun came back, holding the black box.

"Is this what you were here for?" Zoe beamed and took the box,

"Yes! How did you—"

"Miracle owes me a favor." Jun said simply. Emilie turned to her,

"There must be a way we can repay you." She said, "For helping my son." Jun nodded,

"Take me home. I got trapped on this world a long time ago and I wish to return home. I have two grandchildren who I never got to say goodbye to."

Adrien nodded, "Sure. What's your world."

"The Quantic Universe." Everyone gawked,

"That's where we're from!" Hana said, "Who are your grandkids?"

"Gabriel and Victor Agreste."

"Wait what?" Came from everyone. Jun nodded,

"Yeah. So how are they?"

OoOoO

They landed, and Gabriel was out in the garden, seeming to be having a tea party with Elaine and Gavin. He looked up, then his eyes widened,

"Nani?!" Jun ran over and hugged him,

"Gabriel! I'm so sorry I left without notice!" She cupped his face, "At least you're okay and have a family." She grinned at Elaine, "This must be the lovely Elaine." She picked the little girl up, "Never thought you would get with Natalie." Gabriel sighed,

"Well I did. And this little one is growing like Amara in _Supernatural_, except she hasn't eaten any souls to my knowledge." It was true, she looked roughly two now.

Jun tickled the child's stomach and Elaine laughed, "She's Demi-Fae, that's why. I was Fae when I had your mother, Gabriel. And now your son is pure Fae." Gabriel turned to Adrien, who was smiling.

Eli came out, "Hello! Do you have my memory?" Zoe opened the box and Eli finally had the faint start of pupils. He smiled, "Hey Uncle Kelly!" Jun looked at the young warlock in fascination,

"How is he awake? Fascinating." Zoe frowned,

"What? I would rather the father of my child have a soul!" Jun shook her head,

"He shouldn't be awake. Unless…" she looked to Elaine, "It can't be…"

"Can someone please clarify?" Adrien asked. Jun nodded,

"I think Elaine may have healed him at her conception. You see, when a child is conceived, the soul lives in the mother for the amount of time until said child is born. but sometimes the soul will come in contact with a damaged soul on the way and repair it, which would mean Eli and Elaine share a soul until Eli's is healed."

"Oh shit." Adrien gasped, "I haven't told Marinette about this…!"

"About what?" Everyone turned and saw Marinette. Adrien put his hands on his Fae ears,

"Um…"

One hour later

"Meh." Marinette shrugged.

"W-What?" Adrien asked, "But we can't have kids like you wanted now that it would be dangerous for you!"

"Oh please. If Zoe's mother could do it three times, I say challenge accepted to that bitch."

"Three?" It was that moment that Eden realized Kelly and Zoe didn't know about Joselyn.

"Oh yeah. We have another member of our family. I'm 83% sure she isn't yours, Dad."

"Oh, she is." Kelly said, "I had honestly forgotten about her, because Maeve kept her and I currently have bigger fish to fry."

A loud thumping noise could be heard upstairs. Gabriel frowned,

"Oh yeah. Zoe, never leave Jared with me ever again."

"Why?"

"He took a joyride in a stolen convertible—not even _my_ convertible!—outran the cops and blasted _I Can't Drive 55_. I had to pay a ridiculous bail and had to bribe a literal parole officer to leave us alone. I currently have him locked in my lair because he doesn't know how to get out. Hell, I didn't know how to get out for the first few weeks."

"Why did you make that lair?" Adrien asked. Gabriel laughed, watching his grandmother play with Elaine,

"You. You would not leave me alone to work when you were a toddler. Because we both are Demi-Fae and always have, we both have insomnia, but you always screeched and wanted to play, so I built that observatory—later a lair—to be where I hid from you so I could get work done at night."

"That's why I have insomnia!?"

"Yeah." Jun nodded, "Fae don't sleep."

"Wait," Emilie asked, "Gabriel, you knew this whole time?"

"When I was a child, Nani told Victor and I, but when we got older and Nani vanished, we assumed she was just telling stories. But eventually I put her story about the Miraculous to the test and that's when you and I started looking for them, Emilie. Once Adrien was born, I realized he had the gene. And it helped that once I started using Nooroo's power, I gained a water affinity." He cupped his hand and the water from his glass formed an orb and flew into his palm, forming a butterfly.

"That's actually awesome." Eden said. Jun nodded,

"With some practice, you could control and army worth of water."

"Sweet. But do we really trust me with that." Nobody said yes.

"So…" Zoe got up, struggling a little with her large stomach, "I'll go get Jared. Then we head out." He felt a hand take hers, and saw Eli smiling,

"Please don't go." He looked so vulnerable like that. She kissed his cheek,

"I will be back soon. I promise." She looked to Adrien, who was making out with Marinette, and it seemed the mating bond had clicked for them, "Don't get too dirty, Kitty. We are leaving soon."

She went and grabbed Jared, teleporting back to the ship, dumping him there, and walking back,

"So is Dausi still on her honeymoon?"

"Yup." Harrison said cheerfully, "She'll be back on Saturday." Emilie sighed,

"I'm going to stay here and sleep. Kelly, can you please go with them?" Kelly nodded and kissed her hand,

"As you wish."

Zoe tried to hide how her stomach knotted up—and not from the twins—as she turned to leave.

**A/N: Adrien is a pure Fae now, so that's gonna be fun. Especially with the next world….**

**Remember to review!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20: Welcome to Galowen…give or take?**

This world didn't seem all bad. It was green grassland with a few trees. Their outfits were all tight leather for some reason.

Zoe groaned and tied her hair back, looking down at her stomach, "I'm gonna need to get used to wearing tight clothes while pregnant." Adrien did a backhand-spring.

"The leather is actually really nice as Fae."

"Good for fucking you."

Zoe flinched where she felt something poke her back and she saw a hooded figure pointing a rather lovely sword at her. Somehow, the figure had thrown Jared into a tree without making a sound. Kelly was just gawking.

"Who are you?" The voice asked, rich and feminine, with a light British accent, "Why are you here?"

"Again?!" Zoe threw her hands up and tightened her navy cloak, "We don't have time for this shit."

"Tell me." The woman said, "Or I kill you." Another figure came out, this one without the accent and sounded male,

"They don't seem harmful, just leave them alone." The women turned to him in a snappish manner,

"_You_ wouldn't know, brother." So these two were siblings. That was important to note.

"Try me, bitch." Zoe snapped, brandishing Excalibur. The woman scoffed,

"You want a fight? Then it's a fight you'll get." She was then covered in dark energy and emerged as a humanoid creature with black feathered wings, an flowing dark violet gown and soulless black eyes.

"Seriously?!" The man threw his hood down and revealed a Fae youth, no older than twenty. He had pale skin and golden hair, alongside other Fae features such as pointed ears. He was incredibly beautiful, and it mostly shone in his eyes that were strikingly blue, the color of the ocean waters. "Jay! Calm down! I swear to the Gods, no killing!" The woman, Jay, huffed and changed back, throwing down her hood to reveal she too was Fae.

Jay was a dark haired beauty, regal and stunning. She had moon-white skin and long nails. Hey eyes were stunning, a deep green, deeper than Adrien's and even the grass around them, it was almost unreal the shade of green her eyes were.

"Please don't mind my sister." The male said, holding out a hand to help Jared up, smiling, "She doesn't trust anyone, nothing personal. I'm Crow!"

"Nice to meet you." Kelly smiled, shaking his hand, "Guys! Crow doesn't mean any harm!" The others softened and Jay walked up to Adrien,

"Born or Made?" Adrien cocked his head, so she clarified, "Were you Born or Made Fae?"

"Oh! Made, yesterday." Jay pursed her lips and nodded to herself a bit. She then grabbed the knife Jared was trying to stab her with, and even though she took the blade by the sharp end, not a drop of blood left her body as she ripped it from his hand and kicked him in the crotch, not even turning to face him.

"Bitch!"

"Noble Fae." Jay clarified, "I can literally see you in my mind's eye." Crow just ran a hand through his silky hair in exasperation.

"Jay, please don't kill these people." Crow begged. Jay narrowed her eyes, before sighing,

"Fine. If my fool of a brother trusts you, I won't kill you yet. Why are you here?"

"We're here to find the fragment of my mate's soul. We only have a month left to find the last four pieces." Zoe said. For some reason, Jay's emotions darkened into a deep despair and pity—for about a half second anyway, just long enough for Adrien and Kelly to notice.

"Well then…" Jay started, "I know very well about that quest. Come with us home, and we will talk further. But first…" she slipped on a glove and pulled an arrow out of her bag that looked like wood that had been burned but not enough to leave it incapable of use. She shoved it into Adrien's hip and he shrieked as the arrow literally started smoking. He collapsed and quickly got weaker and lost consciousness.

"Adrien!" Zoe shrieked, running to his side and tearing out the arrow. He was losing a lot of blood, more than he should be, "Wake up!"

"Oh no you didn't!" Jared transformed. But not into Goreclaw. His eyes were glowing green and he had cracks running along his hands and forearms, and armor around his eyes. A shield formed around Adrien and he attacked Jay, who was quite startled.

She transformed into that demon form and the two duked it out for about five minutes and the beautiful grass was dead. The cracks spread a bit up Jared's arms before Crow had enough. He leapt into the air and released and explosion of light, reverting both back to normal. Jared coughed a little from the dust that kicked up, and Crow was on his knees. Jay rushed to her twin's side,

"I…said…_enough_…You…know…what…Totem Armor…does to…people…"

Jay nodded, "Indeed I do, but he should know that too if he has any sense of what it is. And Crow, you're still not strong enough to do that! You know how dangerous using your full powers is!" Crow coughed, and Kelly softened,

"You're sick?"

"Not quite…it's a long story."

"One you better explain, after you explain why the fuck you stabbed my brother!" Zoe snapped, brandishing Excalibur. Jay frowned at the blade,

"A sword forged with Dragon's breath. Who would have thought." She walked over to Adrien, "The arrow is an Ashwood arrow, one of the few things deadly to Fae, other than Faebane. But Changelings take the form of Made Fae, though are unaffected by the deadly things. I had to be sure." She looked over to Jared, who was leaning on a tree. "You, big guy, if you aren't too busy dying, can you carry him. Cherokee can heal him, she always does."

"I will kill you, fucker." Zoe sneered, Jay swatted her away nonchalantly,

"I'm the Queen of the Badlands, so I don't have a reason to care." She pointed to a forest that seemed to be comprised completely of dark energy. Zoe glared and Jay shrugged, "Come along."

The walk wasn't long, and Adrien didn't seem to be in any danger anymore, because the arrow hadn't gotten deep, but it was gonna be sore for a few days.

"So where are we going?" Jared asked, looking at the dead end they were at. Crow smiled,

"Fear not." He held his hand out and the waterfall parted, revealing a stunning mansion. He ran in, "Cherokee!" A girl came out.

Cherokee was short with tan skin, messy black hair, and spring-green eyes. She couldn't have been older than eleven.

She huffed, "JAY! What did I tell you about stabbing random Fae!?" She placed her hand on Adrien's hip and the wound sealed over with nothing but a faint bruise. "He needs rest, because Ashwood works like a poison, but he will wake soon." Jay and Crow took Adrien upstairs and Cherokee sighed,

"Don't be mad at Jay. Ever since she lost her mate, she's been a completely different person. She doesn't want to loose anyone, especially after Crow…" Another woman came over,

She had long blonde hair that she had tied in a messy, and she had golden-brown green eyes. Her gown was magenta with light pink sleeves; the middle of her skirt has tiny roses embroidered on it. She had light-pink butterfly-like wings was fluttering.

"Hi!" Cherokee grinned,

"Guys, meet Princess Ro of the Fairy Kingdom. Not Fae, Fairy, like Tinker Bell." Ro smiled. Zoe went after Jay, who was brewing tea,

"You lost your mate? I'm trying to save mine, and you said you knew about my quest." Jay looked up, frowning deeply.

"Yes. I went on that quest. It doesn't work, so for the sake of your child, just go home. He is lost."

"W-What…" Zoe shook her head, listening to the other woman as Jay put alcohol in her own coffee,

"How many pieces for you? Ten? Fifteen? I had to find over a hundred, found them all in three weeks, only for him to die in my arms. You can't save a soul that's been shattered."

"No…" Zoe shook her head, "No. I won't give up if there is even a chance of saving him. He's different from any other, he's a Warlock." She started getting worked up, because hormones, "He—He's gonna be fine. HE'S GOING TO BE FINE!" While Jared was startled by the outburst, Jay didn't bat an eye.

"Hate to be the bearer of bad news. But everyone else either didn't know or didn't have the balls to tell you." Jay gestured to Adrien on the bed, "And you could have just showed me his Mark of the Made." She pulled up Adrien's sleeve and revealed a dark navy tattoo with a vine-and-flower-like patten with an eye on his palm. It spread all the way up his forearm.

"Don't you change the subject on me!"

Crow came in, "Jay, can we talk?" Jay nodded and left, "Yes?"

"Jay…her mate isn't Derek. Maybe it was just him, not the default."

"I did research!" Jay snapped, "It always happens like this! She is putting too much effort into this heartbreak, and pregnant no less!"

Crow held her, "What if this time is different? It's been twenty years." Jay bit her lip and he sighed as he continued, "Help her, Jay. You helped me, and never gave up. Why should you let her give up with a child. Would you make me give up if that happened to Ro?"

"That was different." Jay sat on the balcony railing, "And I'm not going to sit back when I know what is going to happen."

"Was it different?" Crow sighed, leaning on the balcony, "I was poisoned, dying. There was so much Ashwood in my system I was in a coma. Not to mention the damage Mara put on my soul. Everyone told you there was no cure, and you never gave up until you won." He smiled, "Why shouldn't you help her? You know that pain. And if the boy dies, you get to be right." Jay was silent and he smirked, "You know I win."

"There is only one chance at a happy ending and that chance is slim." She jumped down, "She can't move on like I still haven't." Jay laughed, a cold, hollow laugh, "She is eternal, like me. Crow, you and I are over a five billion years old, our brothers and sisters are still out there. Yet I only found my mate twenty years ago. So why does it feel like those twenty years are the only ones that mattered?"

He shrugged, "Because love is rare. But precious." He wrapped an arm around her, "Come on sis, let's have another adventure. And then we can kill Mara and Maria together." Jay nodded,

"Bernie!" A creature appeared.

The creature had a vaguely humanoid body structure. It had a round, spherical head with circular, glowing yellow eyes. It also had two long, twisted antennae sprouting out of the top of its head. Each of its hands has three clawed fingers, and its feet were large and lack any discernible digits.

"Yes, my Queen?"

"Prepare the horses. We ride at dawn."

"Of course!" The creature vanished and Zoe came out,

"You're on board?" Jay shrugged.

"I guess. But maybe you should tell the giant man the truth about his power."

Zoe just sent her an odd look.

OoOoO

Zoe found Jared sitting on the roof.

"Hey." She sat down, "Happy Late Birthday. I know it is December 2nd and your birthday was November 2nd, but exactly one month isn't terrible, seeing as I hadn't met you then." Jared turned,

"How did you…?" She gave him a poorly wrapped gift,

"Dad told me. He also told me about your eighth birthday." Jared's eyes widened as Zoe looked up at him.

"Kelly, that gossip. He's worse than Metatron on _Supernatural_."

"He's not actually." Zoe struggled to get comfortable with the weight of her twins, but managed, "He didn't tell me. I looked at the drawings." She held up one of them, and Jared actually shed a tear.

"I'm sorry for what happened to your parents." She said quietly, "I know you probably won't celebrate that day. I stopped celebrating my birthday when I was five years old, so three days will by just another day, not my 'special' day."

"Why?"

"My Dad worked a lot. He wanted the best for me, but when I turned five, my mother went from wonderful to vile. She abused me, beat me, mistreated me. I stopped wanting to live for a while. But eventually I moved on. Still hurts, but I've learned to live with it."

He turned to her, "How?"

"I went to the Dean Winchester School of Handling Emotions. Meaning I just push it down with all my will. Top of my class."

"Oh. That explains a lot. I can keep it down most days, so thanks for bringing it up. I was just up here to get away from Jay. I think she is keeping something from me, because she is taunting me about something. I think it's the Totem Armor."

"That power you got when…"

"I think. Don't know how I got it, what it is, or it's history." Zoe shrugged,

"Well, I'll leave you too it." She left and Jared opened the gift, seeing a Samsung phone will all of his favorite songs on it. He chuckled a little, knowing Kelly was probably to blame.

**A/N: Shorter chapter, but the next one will be longer. **

**Remember to review!**


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: So updates are gonna be irregular for a bit because I am in the process of moving. So...be patient I guess?**

** Adrien is Fae, obviously there will be talk of sex. **

**Chapter 21: Being Fae, a how to**

The ride, like most rides, was uneventful. But Adrien was now asking the question that was apparently okay for Fae, but _never_ for humans.

"So how old are you? You look maybe twenty."

"That's a complicated question." Jay said, "My body is 8269, but my spirit has been around for five billion years."

Crow shrugged, "Fae generally age a little by the time thousands of years pass, but when the Capital Kingdom of Carthis fell to…" Jay sent him a look and he stopped, "We got lost in the Badlands, where the creatures there took Jay as their queen." Jay added on,

"I ruled for many years, as time doesn't flow there, until Mara came asking for help. Then the bitch revealed her true colors and put Crow on the brink, killing my mate in the process. She also turned all our friends into Darklings."

"Being a Darkling sucks!" Adrien moaned. Jay snapped to look at him,

"You…?"

"Yeah. My father activated my Lingering Will."

"Damn." Jay hopped off her horse, "Okay, Badlands or the Fairy Kingdom?"

"Badlands." Jared and Zoe said in synch. And so they did. Bernie went ahead to tell the other creatures that the Queen wasn't to be disturbed. Crow picked up a violet flower and gave it to Adrien, "For your mate, I know you found yours."

"Thanks." Adrien grinned, "How did you know violet was her _Fae_vorite color?" Jay shrieked,

"No! Not the puns!"

"This is _Fae_tastic!" Kelly smirked, "Doing this is the _Fae_ry best way to get people out of lines in DisneyWorld."

Jay turned to Crow, "I changed my mind, I'm killing them." Crow whacked her over the head,

"Bad!" Jay rolled her eyes, looking at the mark on Adrien's left forearm,

"How freshly made are you again?"

"Two days, why?"

Jay smirked, "You you don't know about the enhanced _anything_?"

"We were gonna avoid telling him." Kelly said with a laugh, "Like you keeping hiding the thing from Jared." Jared glared at the Fae Queen at that.

Adrien was very interested, "What enhanced things?"

"Speed, strength, endurance, agility, fertility, libido, skill in the bedroom…"

"Wait what." Adrien's eyes widened as the others erupted into laughter. They had all suspected, but having it confirm was just priceless. The dumbfounded and appalled look on Adrien's face make it even sweeter. He turned a bright shade of red that put Ladybug's suit to shame, and when Zoe pointed this out, it made his tomato face turn crimson.

"Yup. And condoms don't help." Jay said with a chuckle, "Unless you want to wear five. And the odds of multiples are very high. And you will be in pain in the presence of your mate." Everyone knew what that meant and Adrien's face was now so red that they wondered if he had gone into shock without losing blood, so all of that blood went to his brain. They just hoped his head wouldn't explode like a bloody zit.

Kelly called Marinette, "Hey Mari, Adrien needs to have sex with you."

"KELLY NO!" Adrien roared, grabbing the phone with impossible speed, "Sorry! He didn't mean it! I love you!" He stuffed the phone in his pocket as Jay laughed,

"It's true though."

"So are we going to save _my_ mate or…"

"Not now. We still have an hour ride to the tower." Jay just shrugged, "I'm teaching right now."

"Jay no." Crow rolled his eyes, "Cherokee literally writes a eulogy of every person you teach." Jay decided to ignore her twin, and kept going.

"Now you see, Adrien, there are three types of Fae: the lesser, High Fae, and Noble Fae—also known as Kwami." Plagg shifted from his animal form to his Fae form and sat behind Adrien on the horse. This was the first time Adrien had seen his cheese gremlin as anything other than a tiny cat, so naturally he screamed loudly and started swearing colorfully.

"The mating bond is stronger than marriage." Jay explained calmly, as though she had given this talk many times before—and judging by the fact she was over a billion years old, she probably had—"Once it clicks, you jump right into it."

"At least Tom and Sabine already ship it." Kelly said. "And Mari has been having wet dreams since you gave her the umbrella." Adrien, if possible, got redder.

"You never hung up." Everyone froze as Adrien pulled the still activated phone out of his pocket and saw Marinette's also bright red face, "And Kelly, never invade my mind again."

"No promises." Tom appeared on the phone,

"I swear Adrien, whoever made you Fae, I will fight them with a stale baguette." That image was too humorous to remove.

"I had to drink harpy blood after I got poisoned. So unless you want to fight my great-grandmother, the harpy is already dead." This lead to a long talk about boundaries and Adrien agreeing to all of them happily, but everyone knew he would deeply regret that when all of this shit was over. "And I've tried, there is no way to be unmade."

They had arrived at the creepy tower about five minutes prior and were letting this call unfold, so it came as little surprise when Kelly came out with the brain-dead body of a dark-skinned woman, dumped her on the ground, and Jay started beating on it like no tomorrow.

"So apparently according to her," Kelly gestured to the dead woman, "The piece is at something called the Fae Graveyard or…" Jay started swearing in the Fae language, that only Crow and Adrien could understand. Jay was clearly stunned that the latter knew what she was saying.

"Damn you were made well."

"I'm guessing the Fae Graveyard is bad." Jared said, hopping down from the horse, while said horse looked like it took a massive sigh of relief to not have that massive burden on its back any longer.

"Yeah." Jay shuddered. The mention of this Graveyard had turned the nonchalant and confident woman to pure terror in less that an second, meaning this had to be bad. Jay was then gone, replaced with a version of Bernie about the size of Plagg's cat form if not smaller. That must be her animal form.

"It's the remnants of our former kingdom," Crow explained, "And it's now haunted by vengeful spirits."

"So?" Plagg shrugged, "Doesn't seem all bad to me."

"Our parents reside there." Crow said, as Jay changed back to her Fae form. "Our mother was murdered and our father…"

"Hates my guts." Jay said, her eyes glazed over and it was clear she wasn't with them but rather in the past. He locked me in a tower and beat me every single day with hopes I would lose my dark powers…I murdered him. Took a hammer and smashed his skull."

Zoe gasped at how familiar that story was. It sounded like her own story with her mother—other than the murder part—if she didn't know better, she would say Jay was another version of her, if it weren't for the physical differences.

Jay just sighed, "Let's get this over with. Come on." They hopped on the horses and Jay did a little explaining, "My father hates dark powers, Made Fae and mortals with Fae powers, meaning all of us except Crow and Viirus are screwed."

"How so?" Jared asked, "I'm not Fae or anything."

"But Totem Armor is a Fae power." Jay said, "I can use it. _You_ use it dangerously, so it will kill you eventually like a damaged Miraculous would, but whatever."

"Sorry what?!"

"It's killing you." Jay said with a smile as though she was discussing the weather and not the fact the Jared could literally die, "Those cracks show how it gets worse. So happy birthday." Jared groaned at the mention of his birthday that was a month prior. Arguing with Jay was like arguing with Zoe—you won't get anywhere—and Jared knew this or at least pretended he did, so he kept silent.

The Fae Graveyard was a ruin, the land being a barren wasteland with the occasional crumbled buildings. Dark vines spread throughout and clawed up the singular standing tower.

"This place is terrifying." Plagg said calmly. Adrien rolled his eyes,

"Our lives are terrifying." He gestured to the tower, "So the piece is up there probably?" Jay nodded, looking up at the tower apprehensively. Crow sprouted white angel wings much like the ones Jay had that were black. Though something about Crow's wings had an innocence to them that Jay's didn't other than the color.

"Woah!" Adrien looked at the wings in amazement, "Can I do that?"

"Depends." Crow looked to his sister, who was frozen in fear. He pressed the back of her neck, likely a pressure point, and her wings emerged too, "If you have the shapeshifter affinity. Looking at you, I would say you have the wind affinity. There are the occasional Dual Affinity Fae, but that isn't common."

"What does Wind Affinity mean?" Zoe asked curiously, knowing it could mean a number of things, one of which she didn't want to think about.

"Wind Manipulation." Crow explained, "Like tornadoes and breeze, even weather control with enough practice. You can even render a room full of people silent with it."

"How can I do that?!" Adrien grinned, "I know some people I would use that on." He sent a pointed look to Jared and Zoe, who gave him the finger in such perfect synch it was like they were one person—which after Oblivio was rather freaky to think about. Those two were scary enough on their own thank you very much.

"You guys can go up the tower." Jay said, "I-I-I'll keel watch." Had they lost Jay during their travels and had her switched with a changeling? Because that would explain the sudden attitude change.

"Maybe being Fae will actually come in handy." Adrien mused. Jay regained a little of her original demeanor,

"Your mate will certainly thank you in the bedroom." Adrien huffed and stormed into the tower.

Zoe giggled, "We should go in after him before he gets himself killed."

"You go first." Jay said, fluttering about six inches off the ground. Crow was having none of it and grabbed her wing that was trying to get out of his grip, dragging her into the tower as she swore colorfully.

The tower wasn't monster infested like the team had expected, but the cries of Fae could be heard. Jared was brandishing two massive knives he had taken from the mansion the night prior. Zoe had transformed into Heartless—and since Jared had only seen that once when she struck him in the face with lightning, he was more than a little uncomfortable with that. What was extremely interesting was that form hid her pregnancy completely.

They went up the tower for about ten minutes until they heard Adrien shrieking and swearing in Fae tongue, and Jay was hiding in the doorway.

Now, when they heard Jay's father was gonna be the bad guy, this was not what was expected.

Jay's father was not an attractive man whatsoever. He was a short, fat man with more hair on his face that there was on top of his head. He looked like a long lost cousin of the Dursley family from _Harry Potter_. He had a golden crown atop his head, and he was trying to kill Adrien with a spiked quarterstaff.

"What did I do to you?!" Adrien asked in exasperation, fending off the ghost, "I just met you! I'm just here for a box!"

"You're not worthy!"

"I don't even want to be Fae!" Jay and Crow's father frowned.

"There is no way to fix you, so I have to kill you."

"Just leave me alone!" it was Jared who came out of the doorway first, throwing the knife and it actually penetrated the fat bastard's face. Iron knife with an Ashwood hilt, the bane of Fae ghosts. The ghost turned in shock as Zoe grabbed the second knife and threw it into his gut.

"Pathetic girl." That was a mistake, because while that was in a Fae tongue and as such a spell, Zoe had the reverse card from Maxine and pulled it out, though instead of the ghost turning into a pathetic fat bitch, he screamed and exploded, the box in his place. Zoe held the box tightly. Jay emerged a little,

"I-Is he gone?"

"Yup! Ya okay, Adrien?" Adrien came out from behind a torn up wardrobe, where he had been shielding his face with his hand that bore the Mark of the Made, which hadn't been the smartest thing to do.

"Yeah…"

"So are we ready to go?" Kelly asked cheerfully. Jay nodded,

"I'm going with you. You can't stop me." Crow just groaned, but he didn't sound like he had any plans to stop her.

Everyone just collectively groaned, but nobody tried to stop her.

OoOoO

Gabriel was having a lovely time with Elaine and Gavin. Emilie was quite impressed at how fatherly he could be to the young boy. The little warlock couldn't sleep alone lest he have nightmares, so Gabriel always told him a story and watched a movie with him at night, sleeping until roughly noon after staying up all night. Gavin adored Gabriel and treated him like his father. It was almost like Gavin was a do-over of Adrien's childhood.

He was currently playing catch with Gavin, Felix—who had jumped in age and was now physically eight—and Elaine while Jun and Emilie watched and drank tea together.

The Gummi Ship came down and the team jumped down with a beautiful woman. Zoe opened the box and the soul piece flew through the window and Eli came running out, revealing he remembered everyone…except Felix and Zoe. He never had any idea who the fuck Jared was, so he didn't count.

Gavin ran over, "Hi!" Gabriel was slowly getting the small child out of his shell, but at least he knew Zoe meant safety. Gavin knew about Hawk Moth, but he understood why. Zoe giggled and smiled.

"You wanna hear a story?" Gavin nodded, and Gabriel paled, knowing Zoe's stories always ended in him being mortified.

They all sat in the living room and Zoe held out the cookies right after she slipped out of the tight leather and into some sweats, which felt much nicer on her rather large stomach.

"Okay, so a couple months ago…"

_Adrien had gotten hurt when Onichan attacked. Formerly Kagami, the monster attacked Lila for being a bitch, but Adrien—as Chat Noir—got his calf sliced and had to walk with crutches. This was the following conversation involving Gabriel and Zoe,_

_"I'm gonna tell him."_

_"No."_

_"I'm gonna do it."_

_"No."_

_"I will."_

_"How about we get pizza and find a better solution to this whole problem." There was a moment of silence before Zoe nodded a little._

_But what she didn't tell him, was that she had drugged his coffee with crack—don't ask how she had gotten that, all that was needed to know was that she knew a guy who knew another guy._

_Adrien watched in both parts amusement and confusion, "You drugged his coffee, didn't you."_

_"Yup!"_

_Gabriel was dancing around, "OMG Everything is blue!"_

_"He's gonna kill you when the drug wears off." _

_"So worth it!" Gabriel jumped up,_

_"Look! Its the butterfly symbol! This looks like a job for SexMan!" How he got a costume and fast-changed was a mystery, but it was one Zoe wasn't complaining about. No description was required, just leaving it to the imagination was funny enough. _

_"What the fuck..?" Adrien blinked as Gabriel jumped away. Zoe was gawking, with her blackmailing camera—a mannerism she had inherited from her father._

_"This will not end well."_

_After an incident involving Juleka getting punched in the face, they found Gabriel still very high, watching Natalie at her desk, narrating like in a TV show. _

_Natalie frowned, "What the hell are you doing?"_

_"Oh no! SexMan has been found! Flee SexMan, flee!" Natalie immediately turned to Zoe,_

_"What did you do?"_

_"I drugged his coffee." She said happily. Natalie looked ready to murder her, but the assistant was smart enough to know that when it came to physical strength, Zoe outmatched her in every way._

_"Okay. We have to catch him before he hurts himself." Adrien held up a net a small child would use to catch butterflies. That net was supposed to be in the lair in case an akuma flew away when it wasn't supposed to. Natalie knew this, but also blamed Zoe for it not being there._

_They found him on the couch, "There he is! Get him!" They paused as he was passed out, "Huh?" Adrien looked up,_

_"Holy heartless, he's asleep!"_

_"I can see that, Adrien."_

_Gabriel had no memory of the incident when he woke up, just what Zoe told him. He never bought Zoe pizza again._

Emilie frowned as everyone else was dying of hysteria, "What the fuck, Gabriel?"

"Zoe I thought we promised not to mention that!" Gabriel sent her an embarrassed death glare. Zoe shrugged,

"Well, time to go to the next world." Emilie turned,

"What was the poison you used on him?"

"It was crack." Zoe said, "I have more in my death closet." Kelly laughed,

"Crack coffee is the best! Don't ask how I know that." It was at the phrase and the fact Kelly had the blackmailing camera out, that Gabriel looked worriedly down at the empty mug of coffee he had just drank. There were tiny remnants of white powder in the bottom.

"I never leave home without my blackmailing camera!" Kelly pointed the camera at Gabriel as said designer gave Zoe the finger.

"I. Hate. You all."

Five minutes later

Gabriel was extremely high. And this time, he was like Eden when she was drunk during the cliff incident, asking questions.

"Hey Zoe, do sheep shrink when it rains?"

"Hey Zoe, does hair feel pain when it's cut?"

"Hey Zoe, what if food screams in pain when eaten but beyond the range of hearing?" At this point, Eli took over, taking notes like a therapist would.

"Hey Eli, what if _Toy Story_ is real?"

"God I love Crack Coffee." Emilie said with a laugh. Gabriel looked to Eli from where he was laying on the couch,

"You know, the first time I tried on the Miraculous, I jumped off the roof because I thought I could fly." Eli nodded, pushing up his glasses,

"Okay…what did you learn from that?"

"That moths can't actually fly and my whole life is a lie." Everyone roared with laughter. Eli was still calm,

"Okay, tell me more, Mr. Agreste."

"I spilled lipstick in Emilie's Valentino bag." Emilie's eyes widened,

"You spilled lipstick in my Valentino white bag?!" Kelly was filming calmly while downloading the SexMan incident off Zoe's phone and onto YouTube with the violent threat to never mention it to Gabriel.

It got over a million views in less than an hour.

At this point, Gabriel was reciting vines. Then he started singing _Hamilton_.

"Damnit." Kelly groaned, "Now I need to worry about copyright!"

"Alexa, play Despacito!" At that point, Kelly threw the Alexa out the window and into the street with crazy demon power.

Adrien was off making out with Marinette.

Gabriel pointed to Zoe, "Alexander! Where did you leave the Singameling?" Zoe knew he was talking to her, and laughed,

"Upstairs in the closet next to the blowtorch and the waffle iron."

Three guesses where that led.

A Singameling wrapped in a condom—because condoms are _very_ flammable, don't ask how they knew that—in the microwave sitting in the living room. Oh the fumes, the toxic fumes. Zoe held one up to her stomach,

"If Dada and I had used these, you wouldn't be here. Not that I regret anything." She shrugged, "We do have a shortage of these things." She narrowed her eyes at Gabriel who was making them explode, "I wonder why." Jared was quite appalled by this, but didn't object when Jay brought popcorn for them to munch on.

"I WANT ALL THE GRANDCHILDREN!" As if on cue, Adrien and Marinette came out of his bedroom, both of which—namely the former—had sex hair.

"Sorry what did we miss?"

"So the mating bond clicked." Jay said smugly, and Marinette nodded. Zoe was relieved she hadn't left the toys to burn in his room because she knew Gabriel would have a heart attack if he witnessed his son procreating.

"Mari," Jay giggled, taking a swig of vodka from the bottle that used to be full but was now almost empty, "You will learn the meaning of the phrase 'Territorial Fae Bastard.' Trust me."

At this point, Gabriel sobered up and cried for an hour. Zoe gave him a box of tampons she didn't need since she was pregnant.

"I AM A MAN, I WILL HAVE YOU KNOW!" Kelly was uploading this whole situation to YouTube.

"Gabe, you have been crying for an hour like I do when on my period. Besides, as of the last month, you have been moody and complaining about cramps…more than usual that is."

"You little—"

Zoe held up a tampon—which got all the men except Kelly and Gabriel out of the room at ridiculous speeds. "Do you need to use this to get the stick out of your ass?"

Gabriel just looked at her with a disgusted expression.

OoOoO

The next day, Zoe and her team were gone and Gabriel was going to the kitchen for some breakfast.

"Gabriel." He jumped in shock, falling over as he lost support of the crutches he had started using. In front of him was Natalie, with her hair down and wearing the same flowing blue dress she had been buried in.

"Natalie?!

**A/N: So that happened. Next world in gonna be hilarious, Remember to review!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22: Zoe, Jared and the Diamond Castle**

"N-Natalie…" Gabriel gasped, walking up to her. She was tangible. There had to still be crack in his system, there was no way this was real…this was too good to be true.

She kissed him.

"This is real."

"H-How…I buried you…How could you be?"

"I'm a ghost." She sighed, "When I died, I found myself in this kitchen. I've been trying to contact you, but I guess when you embraced your Fae heritage, you can see me."

"You've been here this whole time?" She nodded,

"I guess Zoe's joke became a reality.

_There was a rat in the office. Gabriel and Natalie were both shrieking like little sissies, and Zoe came in with a rat trap calmly. _

_"__Assholes," she groaned, "If this thing gives me rabies, I will haunt your kitchen cabinets until the day you die."_

_"__Can we just make that a truce?" Gabriel asked, "If any one of us is involved in the death of one of the others, we haunt the kitchen."_

_"__Agreed."_

"So…you're still here!" He grinned, "Elaine's wanted to meet you so badly! I can work down here and she can come see you and—"

"Elaine can't see me. Not until she masters her Fae powers."

"Great." Gabriel huffed, then went to his office and pulled out Zoe's Ouija Board. "Here! You can use this! Elaine! Get down here!" Elaine came bouncing down, now a healthy four year old girl.

"Yeah?"

"You said you wanted to meet your mother." Elaine nodded, and Gabriel held out the lettered board, "She can talk to you with this." Elaine squealed with glee and sat in her chair,

"Mommy? Are you there?"

YES

Elaine grinned, "I have so many things I want to ask you! Can I see you?" Gabriel answered this,

"Not yet. When you're older."

"Okay." Elaine's mood darkened, "Are you mad at me that I made you die?" Gabriel looked to Natalie who was tearing up, pointing out letters.

NO. I LOVE YOU.

Elaine started crying when she had written that down, "I love you too, Mommy." Natalie hugged her, and while she couldn't see Natalie, she could feel her.

They continued talking for hours, and this was quite the way to teach Elaine how to write and read, but it was worth it.

OoOoO

When they landed on the world, the first thing they noticed was the Gummi Ship was nowhere to be found, and their Miraculouses were probably with it. Also, Kelly was gone.

They were in a small clearing. Zoe found herself in a dress.

The dress was ultramarine blue and had a pink corset; the dress was corseted at the back as well as the front. The skirt was ultramarine at the very top and faded to cyan blue, with a slightly darker blue trim. The shirt underneath her corset was a lighter pink than the corset with puffball sleeves with a braid, in the same pink as the shirt, and a gathered bust with a white lace trimming.

That corset was a pain with a pregnant belly, but it seemed this specific corset was designed for that.

She turned and saw Jared swearing colorfully, and almost laughed—scratch that, she tried to hide it and failed miserably—when she saw what he was wearing.

He was wearing a light pink tunic and dark pink pants. The shoes were cream colored and worn, and his long hair was braided and had pink and purple flowers in it.

"What the hell are you wearing?" She cocked her head curiously, noticing her own hair was in a messy low bun.

"I have no fucking idea." Was the answer she got. She heard barking and turned to see two puppies run up to them.

"What the hell are you wearing?" One of them asked, with Adrien's voice.

"Adrien?!" Zoe bent down, "Eden?" Both puppies nodded, and Zoe used her powers to change them back to humans. Adrien was lucky enough to be barefoot while wearing a faded green tunic and brown pants, and Eden was also wearing a dress,

It was a pink dress with a violet and orange corset, corseted in a similar fashion to Zoe's own. The skirt is a combination of both pink and violet, with a violet trim. The shirt underneath her corset was pink with puffball sleeves with a lighter pink trim and a ruffle on the top edge of the chest area.

"Where's Dad?" Eden asked, as Jared was looking at his reflection in the river with a look of utmost horror on his face.

"I'm in here!" They all turned to the flower basket Jared had been holding when he arrived and had since discarded. Since Zoe was unable—being heavily pregnant with twins and all—Eden bent down and picked up a mirror.

The Magic Mirror—because that was obviously what it was—was golden and heart shaped. It had swirly patterns on it. On the left upper corner was a light purple jewel flower. On the right was a pink jewel flower and above that was a slightly smaller purple jewel flower. But it wasn't their reflection they saw when looking into it. It was Kelly, who was crossing his arms grumpily.

It was in that moment Zoe realized the situation they were in. "Oh my fucking god. We're in that Barbie movie! _Barbie and the Diamond Castle_!" Adrien realized what she was getting at and sprinted to the river, digging around until he found two heart-shaped rocks. He tied them with cord and put one around Zoe's neck and one around his own neck. Technically from the looks of it, the second rock _should_ belong to Jared, but Adrien was cursed with bad luck and as such won.

"We're in a Barbie movie?" Jared asked, "Fuck."

"Yeah. By the looks of it, the two of us are best friends, Liana and Alexa." Technically Alexa was the one almost thrown in death acid, but Zoe wasn't planning on being stupid and removing the necklace, and Jared didn't have one, and he didn't know about this shit so… there was _no_ way Zoe wasn't taking full advantage of that.

"Okay." Kelly nodded, having seen this movie many times as it was one of Zoe's favorites as a little girl, "So if I'm the mirror, that asshole dragon is gonna appear if I sing."

"Just don't fucking sing then, we got this in the bag." Eden smirked and turned on Hamilton, which lead to Zoe humming and Kelly singing quietly, but that was enough.

"EDEN WHY?!" Adrien shrieked. Eden shrugged,

"I actually want to go through this movie, thank you very much." A dragon came down and burned the cottage.

"Oh come on!" Jared tore at his hair, removing the last of the flowers, "I was gonna look for different clothes in there! I will kill you, asshole dragon, as soon as I find a weapon!" He looked down at the pink attire, "Fuck this, I'm stripping and walking around naked."

"JARED NO!" Came from everyone. Zoe threw her hands up in exasperation,

"About the weapon thing. Why in Satan's name do we not have weapons? Young, attractive people in the middle of fuck fuck nowhere? There is no way some creepy fuck didn't try to fuck them." Jared threw a hand out as though thanking her for a good point.

"Don't ask me." Kelly said, "_I'm_ stuck in a mirror!"

The dragon was still circling around, and Kelly hid in his mirror a little bit, because fuck dealing with an evil witch.

"Okay…" Zoe mused as they hid in the trees, having magically fused Jared's clothes to his body so he couldn't do any streaking, "Time to go to the inn and find ourselves some twins."

"Why?" Jared asked, "I wouldn't trust you, but you clearly know this better than I do." Trusting her was a massive error in judgement, but Zoe wasn't gonna say anything about it.

"We're actually going to the bar for some food, but there we meet some twins who are our love interests—or rather, your love interest because one look at my stomach tells you there is a high chance I'm taken—Adrien, I recommend shifting into dog form in case this world has something against Fae." Adrien shifted and jumped into Zoe's basket that she had dumped all the flowers out of and was using to carry Adrien and her Dad.

"And one of us is kidnapped and thrown in death acid." She said that part quickly, but Jared got it,

"WHAT?!" The team chose to ignore him,

Kelly shrugged, "So the plan is we go to the inn, cross a rainbow road, go to a mansion, get kidnapped, escape and go to the castle. Plan?"

"Sounds good enough." Eden smiled, "It's so peaceful when you know what's gonna happen." Jared wasn't so enthusiastic.

"Can't we just kill the witch bitch and be done with it?"

"NO!" Adrien pouted as Zoe brightened at the idea, "We need to solve this with friendship!"

"Damnit Adrien!" Zoe glared, "Don't use _Kingdom Hearts_ against me!"

"Wasn't trying to." He responded, "But we are solving this with FRIENDSHIP!" Everyone collectively groaned and Jared tried to remove the clothes again, even though it was a lost cause.

"Alright." Zoe mused, "This is pretty peaceful except Jared." She shouldn't be complaining, because he was carrying her to save time because the twins didn't make it easy to walk long distances, but whatever. Jared just glared at her.

"All of you!" Kelly complained, "I hate being in a mirror! Let's go!"

OoOoO

They got to the bar and were let in no problem. During that time, the team had taken to annoying Jared with mention of the death acid without bringing up when or how to avoid it. He was reasonably pissed about this, but knew fight them on it was a terrible idea, seeing as Adrien had powers without the Miraculous as well.

"So we have no money, how do we get food?" Jared asked, looking fully ready to kill everyone to get the food.

"Sing." Zoe said simply, "I sing, you and the others sit."

"Why should you sing? We're both the main characters!"

"Because I can sing and duets are something that take practice, not the power of movie bullshit. I mean, we could always eat zombie flesh. I also need to get the attention of the twins."

"Why do you even have the zombie flesh still?" Jared asked, "Wasn't that like ten worlds ago?"

"Not like rotten meat can get any worse." She answered, "Besides, my cravings are weird as fuck. Just last night I ate chicken nuggets with pudding. Just don't worry your pretty little head about it. Those twins will save our asses."

"Damn." Adrien mused, sitting in Eden's lap, still a dog while Eden was still human, "The pregnant foodie put something above food."

"What?" Zoe created a guitar, "I would rather Jared not be thrown in death acid."

"I don't need some strange twins to save my ass." Jared snapped, more than a little angry, "I'm in it for the food."

"Death acid."

"About that. Why would it be me?!"

"Because I'm immune to hypnotism." Zoe said smugly, "I was smart and grabbed the fancy immunity gem from the stream." She gestured to her necklace, "I'm walking around with twins, I need all the protection I can get."

"Wait, immunity gem?! That's what those are!" Eden nodded,

"Yeah. I told you this."

Adrien growled as Jared started reaching for the gem around the golden retriever puppy's neck, "I'm cursed. No taking mine."

"Yet I'm the one going into the death acid!"

"We save you." Kelly said simply, "I save _your_ ass my lying _my_ ass off."

"Nothing new there. And can't you use your mind powers?!"

"That's part of why I'm in the mirror. I can't! According to the story, I was an apprentice, but I hid myself in this mirror to escape the evil witch, but I dropped my flute—that would allow me out—and I got stuck. Now we have to go to the Diamond Castle to stop the witch and free me."

"I don't know how I feel about that." None of them had noticed Zoe had sang, gotten praise, and came back with food while this conversation went on.

"There. Done." She felt a tap on her shoulder and smirked smugly at Jared, before turning and blanching.

It was Eli. Or an alternate version of Eli, wearing a blue tunic and black pants.

"Hey." He smiled kindly, "You sounded great."

"Thanks." She stammered, feeling her babies recognize their father—or kind of father—and she could practically hear them screaming "Daddy!" by the way the wriggled, and gave her a contraction. This confirmed they were aware in the womb, and made Zoe's joke about their first word being "Fuck." a much stronger possibility.

But the woman made Zoe gasp. The girl she had seen, Camille Sommers, the one who had begged to be found. She was right there. Camille waved,

"Hi." She seemed the type to be quiet, but not shy. Jared looked between them. They had similar features, so seeing them as siblings was a possibility.

"Are you guys twins?" Eli nodded,

"Yeah! I'm Eli, and this is my sister, Camille." Camille nodded,

"Cam. Call me Cam." Jared smiled, and it was clear it was interested in flirting with her, and his posture helped that assessment.

"Okay. Wanna go on a magical adventure and help us kill a witch." Zoe would have facepalmed, if Camille didn't genuinely seem attracted to that. She leaned in,

"Gladly. Haven't killed anything in a while." Jared seem pleasantly surprised and Eli rolled his eyes. Sea green met grey-green for about a full minute before Kelly spoke up,

"So now we leave and meet the witch. Technically we ditch the twins and they come for us, then we ditch them again, but imma avoid that. So shall we go?"

OoOoO

The walk was quiet. Eli helped Zoe walk due to the contractions that had started up. She still had a month to the due date and would rather not go into labor in this world.

"So…" Eli looked to where Jared was flirting with his sister, "Is he the father?" Jared whirled around, looking ready to shriek, but then looked back at Camille and just clenched his fists,

"No. She is my friend. I am not the father of her child." He looked back to Camille, who smiled, "Meaning I am single."

"Just asking," Eli asked, looking to the mirror and Adrien—to whom had shifted back to avoid getting fleas—"Is the father here?" Zoe tensed,

"Not…exactly. He's…in trouble…a lot of trouble. H-He's a lot like you actually." Eli grinned, smiling a smile that Zoe missed so dearly, then he raised an eyebrow,

"What kind of trouble?"

"Evil witch locked him in the Diamond Castle." Eden explained. They assumed the piece was in the castle, because while the witch's lair was the most dangerous place, the Diamond Castle was the hardest place to get to.

Jared rolled his eyes in the direction of his friends, "Let's just get this over with before death acid comes into the picture."

"So you know about that." They all turned and saw a woman, and Kelly hid in the mirror,

"Maggie…" he whispered to Zoe, "It's Maggie."

Maggie was a surprisingly young girl—though she was a witch, so it was unknown her real age—with light skin, and bright violet eyes. Her hair was long, wavy, and ginger; it reached her mid-back, and she had some of her hair pulled back into a ponytail with a knot; the end of her hair was styled with heavy ringlets. She wore a beautiful dark blue dress with yellow folds and straps enclosed with gold sun buttons, and a sash with dark blue leaves dangling from it.

Eli shielded Zoe in a manner her version of him would. Camille wasn't gonna deal with this,

"Fuck off, bitch." Jared may have been turned on by that. Maggie just chuckled,

"Okay. I am too lazy to monologue, so give me the mirror or I kill you."

"Nah, I'm good." Was the response from everyone except Adrien, namely because he was scared shitless and unable to speak. This was because of the Chinese dragon with the black mustache that jumped down and gave Maggie a strange looking red flute.

"Kill them." She said, but Eli and Camille looked to each other and each threw down a silver coin,

"Hengst!" They both shouted, and a white horse was where the coin was. Camille threw Jared onto her horse and Eli took Zoe, the mirror, and both Adrien and Eden who had shifted into dogs.

They outran the dragon with ease was took the path that didn't lead to a troll.

OoOoO

One day later, Zoe was gnawing on Jared's arm, having ran out of food and eaten all of the zombie flesh. She was really fucking hungry. Jared had long since tried stopping her and took to ignoring her unless she drew blood, which had happened enough times that Jared was gonna have some bite marks on his forearms. Eden had healed him after Zoe took a chunk out. This was frowned upon, but pregnant Zoe was deadlier than anything else, so nobody really cared. Adrien had killed a chicken for her to munch on so Jared could potentially get a love life.

"The mansion!" Eden pointed to the old mansion down the hill. The horses were magical, so Zoe couldn't eat them, so they all ran down the hill, where some servants were waiting for them.

Supposedly they went on about the travel team being the lost masters, but Zoe didn't care at all, devouring all of the food. Once she was pleased, she turned to Jared,

"Alright Jared, stay here while we leave." Jared gave her a suspicious eyebrow, narrowing his eyes,

"Why?"

"Trust me."

"No."

"Come on." Jared huffed, crossing his arms and glaring at the pink clothing,

"I'm going to regret this. But at least there is a wardrobe upstairs to get out of these fucking clothes. The only reason I'm trusting you is because you've seen the movie and I haven't. And this mansion seems safe from the death acid." If he had seen the movie, he would be disagreeing passionately and snatching the necklace from Adrien.

"Sure…." Adrien said quietly, while Camille and Eli were very confused as Eden and Zoe helped them out of the mansion, "'Safe'…."

The team left—Camille did so reluctantly—and Jared went to the wardrobe, looking for literally anything that wasn't his current clothing. He took the braid out, as the only reason he hadn't before was because they had spent a lot of time running. He looked around once he found a dark green tunic and brown pants.

This mansion was actually quite nice, and that was what worried him, because Zoe needed the rest, but chose to leave. He turned to the clothes he was about to put on when he felt sharp claws around his torso and he found himself face to face with that dragon.

Oh. This was why Zoe had left him.

_Fuck you, Zoe._

The dragon started flying away with him and he tried to strangle the beast, only achieving getting his arms bound.

This was gonna be interesting.

Meanwhile

"That was a low blow." Eden said to her big sister, watching the dragon fly away about a mile away.

"It was either him, or me and my babies." Zoe said simply. She looked around, "Where's Adrien?" Eden frowned and then heard Adrien screaming,

"Shit. He teleported." Apparently all Fae could teleport, and it seemed Adrien's curse ended up with him teleported into the dragon's other claw.

"So do we follow the dragon?" Eli asked. Zoe shook her head,

"Nah. We need to wait until the dragon comes for Dad and I once Maggie realizes Jared doesn't know—shit! I just realized we missed a huge plot point. We didn't tell Jared shit! How it works is Maggie is supposed to hypnotize him into telling her where we are, that way we can rescue him, but since we told him nothing, we have no way of finding him and Adrien!"

Kelly's eyes widened, "Well, Jared's a goner." He started waving in the direction of where the dragon went, "Bye Jared! Bye! You'll never see the light of day again! Bye!"

Camille refused to accept that, "I'm a master tracker. I can find him."

"Isn't Adrien supposed to run like a little shit and lead the twins to Jared?"

"We missed a huge plot point." Zoe said worriedly, sitting on a log, "So who knows. All I know is Dad and I are gonna keep heading to the castle, any of you can join me, so we can avoid bad things. I need to think of the fact I count as three people. If I didn't feel ready to pop, I would gladly go kill a bitch and hold this over Jared forever, but I can't."

"Your motivations on if you would save him are so inspiring." Camille muttered sarcastically. Zoe threw her hands up in surrender,

"What?! Adrien has the magic necklace and can shift into a dog, so he's safe—actually he's cursed, so he's screwed. But Dad is extremely valuable, and technically Liana isn't supposed to give a fuck right now and continue on, so we still have people to save Adrien and Jared, and not get off the path." They only had two weeks left before Eli's soul moved on and he died, she couldn't risk that.

"Screw it!" Camille roared, "I work better alone as it is. I will find them."

"Are you in love with Jared?" Eden asked curiously,

"Shut up." That was the answer the team needed. Zoe continued as Camille summoned Raven, her black stallion—Eli's was white and names Butterbean.

"The point is," Zoe explained, "As long as Maggie doesn't have Dad, there is no ultimatum of 'spill or he dies.'"

"She's already gone." Eli said.

"I see that."

**A/N: This world is way too much fun to write. I have no shame.**

**Remember to review and feed the author kwami!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23: The real Camille**

Jared was thrown on the ground in the lair unceremoniously.

This lair was a huge ass cavern inside a mountain, and there was somehow a small castle. He would never admit seeing the death acid surrounding the area had made him cling to the dragon a little to avoid falling in.

"Let me go!" Once he was firmly on the ground, he grabbed the dragon's mustache and then punched the creature in the face. Adrien—though in his dog form they had taken to calling him Prince—whimpered in fear and hid behind Jared's legs. He would admit the puppy was adorable and picked him up tried to ignore this was a Fae teen who was perfectly capable of eating his throat if Jay's little talks had any truth to them.

Maggie came over, and Prince's whimpering got even louder. The witch took him from Jared with force and pet the small creature, seemingly unaware the dog was a Fae shifter,

"It's okay, little one." Maggie bent down, looking at where Jared was tightly bound by the dragon, grabbing some water and steak, which Prince dug into. Maggie noticed the necklace around his neck that fit like a collar, and she looked up,

"You know what that stone does. You must care for the dog."

"Not really. It's my friend's dog and she's scarier than you'll ever be. As for the stone, I only know it's immunity to hypnotism."

"And all other dark magic." Maggie revealed, and Jared roared very loudly and angrily.

"ZOE, YOU LITTLE BITCH!" Jared huffed once he had gotten that out of his system, and saw Adrien/Prince sticking his tongue out at him. He gave the puppy the finger. "Look, I won't be helping, you so how about you let me and the dog go." Maggie glared, and Jared got an idea, "Tell you what, you get me some clothes that aren't pink, and I'll tell you everything I know."

Maggie brightened and handed him a brown tunic and black pants that fit him perfectly, which he changed into at top speed and threw the pink shit in the acid, where it dissolved in seconds. Great.

"Now tell me everything you know."

Jared sat down, trying to keep a straight face and contain any laughter…and started reciting the rules of chess Kagami had forced him to memorize.

Maggie was surprisingly patient for about an hour as he rabbeted on, but then she snapped when he started screeching metal songs.

"Alright. I've been patient. But enough is enough. Where is the mirror and your companions?"

"Oh. I have no fucking idea. Zoe didn't tell me shit." Maggie huffed, and played her flute. Green smoke left the flute and Jared's eyes glazed over with the green mist.

"Now." She sucked in a deep breath, "Tell me everything about the quest."

"Zoe and Kelly are assholes and didn't tell me anything."

Maggie knew he was telling the truth, because he had no choice as he was under her control. She didn't know if the Worldbender telling this man nothing was a dick move or a genius move. Jared was hypnotized in the corner, but he had continued talking and it took every ounce of will power that she didn't have her dragon throw him in the acid.

"SLEEP!" Jared fell limp, fast asleep. It was unlikely he really slept silently, but he was now, and if it weren't for the rise and fall of his chest, he could be mistaken for dead, "And don't wake up until I tell you too."

She noticed the tiny puppy scamper off, but it wasn't like a dog could do anything, so she let him go.

But then she felt another presence, a strong magical one, a familiar one.

"Camille Sommers. Come on out, I don't bite."

Camille emerged from behind a pillar, holding out a dagger in one hand and a glowing ball in the other. Maggie made no move to fight her niece, and Camille lowered her weapons, running over to Jared.

"Jared?! Wake up!"

"He won't wake up." Maggie said, "Not until I order him to." Camille glared and her eyes started glowing, showing off a fraction of her power.

"What does that mean?"

Maggie smirked, "It means I have complete control over him. I can make him never wake up, or I can make him throw himself into the acid. Kill me and he doesn't wake up." Camille turned in panic to where Jared was sleeping peacefully, but she could tell he was fighting inside, trying to get out. "And I will do it." Maggie said, "Unless you do something for me."

"And what would this thing be?"

"The mirror. Bring it to me. And if you don't…if you have any positive feelings for this boy at all, you want to bring me the mirror."

Camille looked at Jared, before nodding reluctantly.

Two hours later

"So that's the situation."

Zoe frowned, "Okay….looks like we have a plot after all."

"So what are we gonna do about it?" Kelly asked.

"Leave me out of it." Was Adrien's response, once again Fae, "And he is pissed about the gems."

"We can't leave Jared to die!" Camille begged. Eden shrugged,

"There is also the possibility Maggie will make him pull a Ventus." Camille sent her a questioning look, so she clarified, "Ventus was a boy who fell into a coma and slept for thirteen years."

"That's not better!"

"Sure it is." Zoe shrugged, "We just dump him somewhere and leave him there for a couple hours until we get the Diamond Castle and then you can kiss Sleeping Beauty."

"You are one savage bitch." Camille glared. Zoe just chuckled and gave her the finger. It wasn't that she didn't want to save Jared, on the contrary, but Eli was higher on the priority list, and Jared could take care of himself.

"Well?" Kelly asked, "Do we save him or do we just go, which could possibly save him but could also get him killed." Zoe frowned,

"I just realized how many times Jared has almost died in the month he has been with us." She also realized he had been stabbed in the back on his actual birthday, "Feel a little guilty. Fine. Dad, you okay with this?" Kelly shrugged,

"Don't see why not."

"Good choice." Everyone shrieked as the dragon swept them up, except for Eli and Adrien, who fled into the trees.

OoOoO

Zoe used her magic to shield herself from the fall, rolling onto the stone ground.

In the center of the area was Jared, laying flat on his back with his hands at his sides. All he needed was a glass coffin and he would look like Snow White. But Zoe saw another reference for this as Camille ran to his side and shook him,

"Jared? Jared! Open your eyes!"

"Oh…" Zoe pretended to be in pain, "The _Kingdom Hearts 1 _deja vu, it burns." For this to be accurate, Camille would be the teenage hero, and Jared would be the female damsel in distress, and _that_ was fun to think about. Jared didn't stir, and Zoe half expected someone to appear and tell them he had lost his soul or some shit. She knew Jared slept like the dead when napping—no really, it was dangerous to wake him—but he was being completely silent, and that was what worried her.

Maggie appeared and snatched the mirror from Zoe's bag and stroked the glass as Kelly gave her the finger.

"Kelly Darling, so good to see you again!" Kelly glared, and Zoe knew he was trying everything he could to get the fuck out of the mirror and punch that bitch in the face. "Now. You're gonna tell me where the Diamond Castle is, or I will kill the boy." Kelly rolled his eyes

"What part of your relationship with me makes you think I would tell you shit?" Maggie played her flute and Jared woke up, still under her control, and started walking to the edge, where acid awaited. "Wanna try that again?" Kelly stood defiant, until the combined efforts of Camille and Eden—Zoe was nowhere near fast enough to get there in time and was watching—couldn't keep Jared from the edge and he was teetering dangerously over the edge.

"Okay!" He started crying, but anyone who knew him knew this was utter bullshit. You don't become the President of the United States unless you know how to lie your ass off—which made it a good thing Lila was dead, otherwise America would be doomed.

"T-The Seven Stones…by the lake!" This actually was where the entrance was, but Zoe knew her father was gonna do something bullshit related to completely fuck with this witch. Maggie smirked,

"Thank you." And shoved Jared into the acid.

"JARED!" Camille shrieked, jumping in after him. Zoe gasped in horror at the idea she had just lost two of her friends.

"You bitch!" Kelly roared, swearing as Maggie vanished with him. Make that three.

But then there was a blinding light and Camille emerged, lit up like a neutron star, with Jared in her arms, unconscious yet unharmed, even though he had been submerged in the death acid for at least a full minute. Zoe realized this was the power Eli would have without the runes and wondered how powerful their babies would be.

Camille set Jared down gently, with him practically cradled as she checked his pulse. Adrien came running in, terrified,

"Something happened to Eli!" He froze as Camille threw her hand out demandingly,

"He's not real, I know. You explained everything and he vanished?" Adrien nodded, and Camille nodded, "Yeah. I know. My name is Camille Sommers, and the version of Eli you are looking for is my real brother."

"But Dad said Camille died when she was a month old…" Zoe mused, Camille nodded.

"I did. But death isn't always forever."

_The baby girl was buried by the beach in New York. Kelly had buried her alone, as he had wiped the memory of her from her devastated parents. She was cold and lifeless, looking like a sad doll rather than a person._

_A woman stepped onto the land. She was beautiful, with dark brown hair flowing down her back and chocolate eyes that radiated innocence and something more. She wore a purple gown with dark red in the middle, and her feet were bare. The dress was unbefitting her dirty face, but she was still a beautiful woman._

_She flicked her wrist and the soil over the grave vanished and she took the child, her eyes flashing gold like twin coins for a brief second before the child shrieked with newfound air in her lungs._

_"__Little Camille," the woman said softly, "It is not your destiny to die. You are special." She let the smiling baby hold her finger and smiled, placing an image of Eli in her head, "This is your brother, use his image to find the girl who will bring you home. But for now, you cannot stay." She vanished with the baby and placed her on the doorstep of an elderly couple._

_The elderly woman took the baby and smiled at the younger woman, "Who are you? An angel?"_

_"__I am the Lady of the Lake. My name is Freya."_

"After my guardians passed away, I went in search of my brother," Camille explained, "and came up empty. I can travel worlds without a ship, no problem, though it is draining at times. I was just recharging when I sensed my brother in you, Zoe."

Zoe nodded a little, as Camille kept holding out her hand demandingly towards Adrien,

"What do you want?" Adrien asked.

"The gem! It's the only way to break the hypnotism! Jared is fading fast, GIVE IT!" Adrien ripped off the necklace and walked inland, before gently walking and handing it to her.

"What? I'm cursed, any sort of shit could happen that lands me in the acid. If Zoe has taught me anything, it's that nobody should get between a woman and the person they are in love with."

Camille slipped the necklace onto Jared's neck and it only took a few seconds of him to wake up,

"Wha…what happened?" He sat up and rubbed his head in confusion, and Camille hugged him.

"You're alive!" She frowned deeply as she noticed he was feverish. Probably the side effect from being submerged in acid. She was able to keep him from taking damage, but a fever was unavoidable.

"I don't know what happened…" Jared mused, "But I know it's Zoe's fault."

"Not my fault the witch shoved you into the acid and Camille saved your ass." Jared looked up at Camille, shocked. He hadn't realized he had been leaning on her, too exhausted to support himself—because he had been fighting like hell while 'asleep' so that wasn't refreshing—but once he realized that, he jerked upright, ignoring any vertigo.

"Thanks."

Camille blushed, "No problem."

Jared looked around, "Where's Kelly?"

"Lying to Maggie." Eden said. Jared laughed,

"Oh, that's gonna be awesome."

"Yeah…" Zoe agreed, "But we should go get him and save the world. Here's the plan…"

OoOoO

"And now do a chicken dance!" Kelly was having way too much fun, but he was pretending to be having a hard time. Jared was dead and Camille was too. His promise to Amelia was broken. So he decided to make Maggie's life hell.

Maggie finished doing that and Kelly wished he had popcorn.

"This is a rather lengthy process."

"Maybe." Kelly sat in the mirror, "Now you must bring forth a virgin, and give them a sandwich." Now he was pulling shit out of his ass. He had prepared for about ten minutes, but Maggie had been buying it for three hours.

Maggie was gone for about ten minutes before coming back. "There. Sandwich has been given."

"That was impossibly fast." But he wasn't complaining.

"How much longer?" Maggie complained like the teenager she looked. She was really over three hundred.

"What else do you expect to unlock the sacred Diamond Castle?!" Internally, he was laughing so hard he was crying, pulling out his trusty blackmailing camera that had been by his side for forty years.

"Wait what!?" Maggie pointed to the camera, "MARTHA DESTROYED THAT THING THIRTY YEARS AGO!" Kelly just shrugged, because he had created many copies of his beloved source of blackmail.

"Now you must cut off your feet. As sacrifices." Maggie looked disgusted, and for a second, Kelly thought she had seen through his horseshit, but then she sat on a rock and pulled out a knife and started cutting off her feet. If Kelly didn't know better, he would think he was using his mind powers on her. But she paused, demanding the rest of the list,

"You must bring the heart of an Avian Asshole and sing Finny Fun!" This was just straight half-assed stuff of nightmares.

…

"What the hell is he doing?" Jared asked as Zoe was listening in with magic from the other side of the lake.

"Nothing out of the ordinary." Eden replied.

Camille and Jared looked to each other as Kelly continued, "And what is Finny Fun?" Adrien literally shrieked and had to be gagged,

"FiNnY fUn BrEaKs EvErYoNe!"

"It's true." Zoe nodded, "It's the lead cause of geek suicide in 2006." Jared had an expression that was showed he was unsure how to respond to that. Camille, Eden and Adrien ran off to their post, leaving Zoe and Jared alone.

"So Cam," Zoe said, looking to him, "What do you think of her?"

"She's nice enough. Why?"

Zoe frowned, "Anything else? Like a friend? Something more?" Jared snapped to look at her,

"No." He sent her a death glare, "I don't have feelings for her."

"So you're gonna reject her." Jared didn't respond, and Zoe had her answer. He glared at her in a manner that would make a sane person scream for their mommy. Zoe, nnot being sane and having severe mommy issues, didn't even blink let alone flinch.

"Shut up." He said, and Zoe just smirked.

…

Maggie was cutting off her feet.

Kelly winced, "Oh! Turn me away, I don't want to see this! You're getting blood on my mirror, d'ya mind?"

"I am in massive pain right now! I don't care!"

"I care! I'm the one stuck in this bloody mirror!" Adrien just appeared out of nowhere.

"Was that a pun?"

"Wasn't meant to be, but I guess so." Maggie looked at Adrien in horror. Adrien shrugged,

"What? I followed you while the others were fishing Jared out of the acid."

Maggie frowned deeply, "You followed us? And why are they fishing his bones out of the acid?"

"Or fishing me out." Maggie turned and got a punch in the face from Jared. Kelly beamed,

"Sweet! Rescue mission!" Maggie looked at the very much alive and pissed off Jared,

"How are you not dead?!" Jared shrugged,

"I don't exactly know all the details either."

"FU!" The dragon came down and Eden appeared, "Fu?"

"Fu, former muse of music, now my little pet." Kelly just laughed like a maniac. Jared didn't give two fucks, and jumped onto the beast with Camille. Such lovely couple bonding, to murder a dragon together. Nobody liked Fu, so nobody bothered to try turning him back.

Zoe was watching from behind the stones, and Maggie grabbed the mirror and the flute,

"NOBODY TAKE ANOTHER STEP FORWARD OR I WILL THROW THE MIRROR IN THE LAKE!"

"I'm the one with the keys." Kelly responded, way calmer than his current situation should allow.

"You already gave me the list." He had an expression that said "You've got me there, or maybe you're a dumbass."

"I did do that." He said aloud, "Maybe. Or there's _more_!"

"No. Don't you dare."

"Yeah." Kelly let himself giggle a little, "More. Let's go with that." Jared came flying down, almost riding the dragon while beating it with a stick,

"You are having way too much fun with that!" Kelly nodded, still holding the camera,

"Yes I am."

Maggie was silent for about ten seconds before, "You're fucking with me. Aren't you." Kelly put a hand on his chest and pretended to be offended,

"Now why would I _ever_ do that?" There was no sincerity in his tone whatsoever. He sounded almost like a child disappointed the game was over. Maggie roared and threw the mirror into the lake. Kelly let out the most sarcastic sounding "Noooooooooo" that could possibly exist, just dry and had no urgency whatsoever.

"DAD!" Zoe jumped into the water and transformed into a mermaid as she saw the mirror with her father in it slowly sinking to the bottom. Kelly actually looked frantic and Zoe realized water was filling up in the mirror realm and he couldn't breathe, when they had both thought he would be immune to the water. It could have also had something to do with the cracks in the mirror now.

Zoe swam to the surface at top speed and raised the mirror up, which made it drain of water, and was just in time to witness Eden wrestling with the one-footed witch, throwing the flute into the water and Maggie jumped after it. `

Meanwhile, Jared and Camille had finished slaying the beast. It was now a pulpy mess. She turned to him,

"You're a good murderer."

"Thank you." Then the two walked over to the others.

"So how do we really do this?" Zoe asked, "Do Jared and I have to sing?" Kelly laughed,

"No. There's a handprint scanner on this rock."

"Seriously?" Jared laughed, "How in god's name were you able to bullshit that bitch for three hours?"

"Good question."

They did the scan and the Diamond Castle appeared, and all of their clothing changed.

Zoe sighed in relief because her dress no longer had a corset, and seemed to be a maternity gown. The bodice of her dress was blue with a hint of violet and gathered at the chest, the stomach area was blue and ends at a point with silver braiding along the bottom edge where it joined the skirt.

Jared was wearing a pink and orange suit—cue much swearing—but Adrien, Eden and Camille were lucky and just got simple crowns. The mirror began to glow and Kelly emerged, wearing the same jean jacket, grey sweater and jeans as he had been before. He smiled.

"The piece is probably at the top." Zoe mused, walking up, and gasped.

The room had diamond portraits through it, lining the walls was pictures of her and them fighting things. There were words engraved at the bottom of one.

Two halves of a whole

Both of magic and of soul

Only when these two hearts blend

Can the universe begin again

"What is this?" Zoe asked, looking to her Dad. Kelly was dumbstruck,

"The Prophecy was real…" he breathed, but then turned to one of two superheroes that were not Zoe and Eli…

It was him and Amelia, Lionheart and White Sparrow. Only it was incomplete in the bottom. He frowned, before turning to where there was a crystalline statue of a sleeping Eli on one side of the room. Zoe grinned and held her hand on the statue, and the orb flew out,

"Princess!" He said happily, flying around, "You look as lovely as ever!" Zoe blushed, looking down at her stomach. She was very self-conscious of the weight gain.

"You really think so?"

"Duh! You're even more beautiful now!" She giggled as the orb flew into her jar. But when she turned, she saw Maggie—with a new foot, she must have gotten it back like Deadpool—holding a glowing orb with Kelly at knifepoint.

"One more step and he dies!" She sneered, Kelly just rolled his eyes,

"Oh no. I'm so scared." Nothing ever sounded more sarcastic than those words. Zoe didn't know the context, but it was clear her Dad was not intimidated by this witch whatsoever.

Maggie smirked, "You should be. I know your critical weakness."

"What? That I hate being near after you tried to tear at my clothes when I was fifteen because I was the only man around? Because that's a perfectly reasonable reason to detest you, and I will just punch you into a body cast like I did last time."

Zoe was quite bemused by this conversation, as Maggie continued arguing with him, but then she held her hand out.

"The orb and control of the castle, or he dies." Kelly retaliated by head-butting her in the face, pulling out a dagger and proceeded to beat the shit out of her. Maggie was almost dead when she shoved the glowing orb into his wrist that bore the scars from where his Miraculous was destroyed.

He collapsed like Snow White eating that poison apple.

"DAD?!" Zoe shrieked, snapping out of her trance. She sent death glare to Maggie, "YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT! I HAVE BEEN HAVING CONTRACTIONS FOR THE LAST TWO DAYS AND YOU PICKED THE WRONG TIME TO FUCK WITH MY FAMILY!" She launched a ball of dark fire at Maggie and the witch turned to stone. Zoe ran to her Dad,

"Dad! Wake up!" He didn't stir at all, the slow—albeit weak—rise and fall of his chest was the only sign he was alive other than the calm pulse. "JARED! EDEN! ADRIEN! I NEED HELP!" He started crying, holding her Dad. She just got him back after two years, she couldn't lose him again.

The team came in and Adrien slumped Kelly over his shoulder, being able to support him now that he was Fae.

"We need to get back."

OoOoO

"You're doing really well, Gabriel." Jun said as Gabriel shifted into his Fae form. It turned out DemiFae needed to shift into a Fae form, while pure Fae were stuck in said form. Apparently a Fae with a water affinity was called a Naiad, so he would gain back his youth if he got in a lake, but the walking thing was still an issue and he would rather not risk that.

He did not expect Zoe to come running in with a beautiful woman behind her, and Kelly being supported by Adrien. They placed him on the couch and Harrison shrieked, running to his best friend's side,

"Kelly!? NO!" He sobbed.

"W-What's going on?" Zoe asked. Harrison looked up,

"Someone attacked his scar?" Zoe nodded and he bowed his head, "Kelly doesn't know, but any magic there causes his system to overload and he falls comatose. Last time it was a few hours, the time before that was a few weeks…" He looked up, "I don't know when he'll wake up."

Eden gasped, then placed a hand on her Dad's forehead, causing him to lurch up and vomit onto the ground, purging himself of the excess magic.

"Wha…what happened?" Zoe and Eden crushed him into a hug.

"You're okay!" Harrison looked up at Camille, and his eyes brightened as Kelly restored his memory,

"C…Camille?" Camille started tearing up, and nodded. He ran to her and hugged her tight, "Camille! Y-You're alive…" Camille was startled at first, but then she looked into identical grey-green eyes, looked at the identical chocolate brown hair and she realized this was her father, the one she had been looking for.

"Daddy!" Both were weeping, while Eli stood awkwardly in the corner, two pieces away from a complete soul,

"Can someone please catch me up?" Harrison gave a teary laugh and hugged both of his children

"Oh kids, we have much to discuss." Emilie smiled and the family reunion and turned to Kelly,

"You okay?" Kelly nodded,

"Yeah. I don't know what happened." Zoe sighed in relief,

"Everything is fine. But we have twelve days left to save Eli, so if you're up for it, can we go?" Kelly nodded, looking to where Jared had passed the fuck out, slipping into one of his trademark naps, once again in _not_-pink sweats.

Emilie held up a sheepish hand, "Can I go with you?" Kelly nodded happily, and Zoe darkened, but she too nodded. Adrien came in with restocked bags,

"Ready?" The team nodded,

"Ready."

**A/N: So guess what the next world is gonna be, this is the last world, then the battle. I will warn you, it is very sad. **

**And remember to review to feed Cheeto!**


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24: The Devastating Truth**

Adrien decided to stay behind since Tom invited him over for dinner to calmly discuss his relationship with Marinette, especially since Adrien would be going to college soon. The family was joking Tom was gonna give his blessing.

In this moment, Kelly was subtly flirting with Emilie, she was very open to it, Eden was…she wasn't here either actually, because Jared's fever was getting worse, so she stayed behind. This meant it was Kelly, Zoe and Emilie. Zoe was driving, and trying not to cry. She knew the two loved each other, and she didn't want to interfere, but…

Kelly turned to her, "Zoe…are you okay?" Zoe wiped her eyes,

"Babies are just kicking like little assholes. I'm fine." She smiled up at him, placing his hand on her stomach. Because she was so annoyed with random strangers feeling her stomach out of nowhere, none of the family members had done it. People seemed to be under the impression she wanted to hear how big she was getting and the struggles of parenthood, when all she really wanted was a nap, some ice cream and to have Eli by her side

Kelly beamed at the feeling of his grandkids moving around, then his mood darkened and his eyes turned navy blue—meaning sad—as Zoe stared at the dark black scars on her Dad's wrist, looked like a tattoo, but it wasn't.

"Something else is troubling you." He said, "Good mental shields, but your eyes don't lie. Are Emilie and I making you uncomfortable?"

"No." She lied, "I'm happy for you two." She was, but she couldn't ignore the knife in her heart, and the dark memories that brought up. Emilie came over.

"Zoe, I care about your Dad, I won't hide that. But you've been against me since day one, so if you don't like me, I will respect that."

"What makes you think I don't like you?"

"I just want to be sure. You did just get your full-time Dad back." Kelly bowed his head in shame at that. Zoe just pursed her lips as Emilie continued cautiously, "Your opinion matters."

"I don't care." She choked out, focusing on the Lanes Between, "I want Dad to be happy." Kelly cupped her cheek to turn her to face him, turning on the auto-pilot. He brushed away a stray tear with his thumb.

"I'm fine!" she insisted firmly, sending him a look that would get a normal child grounded, but Zoe wasn't a normal child and hadn't had a normal childhood.

"Bullshit." Kelly said calmly, "You're dropping your mental shields." Zoe put up her shields again and stood up abruptly to face him, even though he was a foot taller than her.

"I DON'T CARE BECAUSE MY OPINION NEVER MATTERS!"

"It does this time…" Emilie said quietly, Zoe clenched her fists.

"MY MOTHER SHOT ME! ABUSED ME MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY! SO MAYBE I DON'T KNOW HOW TO HAVE A MOTHER! I WANT PEOPLE TO BE HAPPY BECAUSE I AM SO USED TO BEING _UN_HAPPY AND IT DOESN'T MATTER ANYMORE!" The tears were pouring down her face like waterfalls, "I have always preferred the happiness of others over my own, no matter what I say and do. That's just the way it is. Just pretend I don't exist while I go save my mate."

Both Emilie and Kelly were stunned into silence by the outburst. Kelly was also crying at how broken his daughter was, Emilie was trying to form the right words.

"T-That's very noble of you." She said eventually, "It's how you were raised, but that doesn't mean your happiness doesn't matter."

"Why?" Zoe said bitterly, turning back to the steering wheel, "I'm not against it, I'm really not. I just don't know how to have a mother without expecting pain the second Dad's gone. I'm used to avoiding pain." Emilie hugged her. Zoe squirmed for a moment, but settled,

"I'm asking you, Zoe Invi Carpenter, if you would give me the chance to show you how to have a real mother, even if you don't trust me at first." Zoe looked up at her, her big blue eyes filled to the brim with tears, which came out as she started sobbing. Kelly smiled and joined the hug.

They stayed like that until they heard the sound of Zoe's even breathing. Kelly smiled and gently set her on the bed in the back of the ship, covering her with a blanket and smiling at the bulge from where his grandchildren resided. He sighed, taking the wheel.

Emilie was sitting in shotgun, and he looked to her, "I haven't seen a woman get her out of an outburst like that." He tensed at the potential error, "I mean…she doesn't trust women older than her…"

"You're fine." Emilie assured, "It's understandable, with all she's gone through." He nodded,

"I know. I wish with all my heart that Maeve hadn't hurt her. Should I have ignored my wife's request and read her mind? Should I have bound Zoe's powers like I did Eli's?" She put a hand on his shoulder,

"It's too late to dwell on that. All you're gonna do is blame yourself for something you didn't have any control over."

"I could have been there." He said guiltily, "I could have just used my powers to get money, but nooooo." He tore at his hair, looking back at his daughter, "I wanted an honest job—or as honest as President can be, but that happened later and by accident—I wanted to truly provide for my family and my daughter is covered head to toe in scars, some of which were self-made!"

"Her scars remind her of who she is." Emilie assured, "She's been though a lot, but as my mother used to say: its the ones who change the world who are put through the worst trials."

"I can't stop thinking about it." He turned to her, his eyes such a dark blue they were black—meaning he was extremely sad—"How did you feel when you learned what Gabriel did to Adrien?"

"Heartbroken." She said honestly, "I thought I knew him better than that. I never thought he would do such horrible things. He's there for Elaine, just like he was for Adrien and I before…but it's my fault Adrien suffered so badly."

"My parents were drug addicts." Kelly said quietly, "Died in a car crash. Even before that, Regina raised me. Millie, the woman who took me in on Earth, raised me like her own, no expectations other than to not vomit while eating the shrimp jello." He chuckled dryly, "I wanted that kind of live for my children, not the pain."

"Zoe would be dead without you. She wouldn't have gotten this far with people trying to kill her without what you taught her."

"I taught her fighting, but I wasn't really there as a father-figure."

"Gabriel and I were worse, we just locked Adrien in the house and treated him like a china doll. You treated your daughters like equals. Adrien didn't get to live until I was gone. If I hadn't left, he would still just be a pretty doll. He would know nothing of happiness. Because while Gabriel was a horrible father, he let Adrien go to school and be free."

"I guess we both sucked as parents." He murmured. Emilie smiled,

"I could hear things sometimes, while I was asleep. Zoe spoke very highly of you."

"B-But I…I wasn't—"

"This is our chance to start over." She said with a weak smile, "Don't spend the rest of your days looking back on part mistakes. Her mother broke her, and you always picked up the pieces."

Kelly didn't know what to say. His voice cracked when he spoke, "Tha-Thank you Emilie…"

OoOoO

Adrien smiled happily as he knocked on the door to the bakery, or more specifically the house inside it. He had some flowers, and a ring he had gotten for Marinette in his back pocket—not that he was gonna propose for a while, just to show Tom that he had plans to stay with her.

There was no response, none at all.

After five minutes of waiting, he heard a crash sound and he couldn't wait any longer. Using his Fae powers, he blew the door off and walked in, his stomach dropping to the floor when he saw Tom, Sabine and Marinette tied up in the corner.

"Good for you to finally show up." Adrien turned as someone threw FaeBane in his face. FaeBane was, as the name implied, the bane of Fae. It suppressed Fae magic and drained them immensely. He fell to his knees and saw Regina smirking at him,

"Regina…" he growled, shielding the Dupain-Cheng family as much as he could have. He felt himself getting weaker by the second, but he wouldn't let this witch hurt his adopted family. Being around FaeBane weakened him, having it in his system, having breathed it in, made him extremely loopy, almost like hypoxia. The situation was getting sillier and sillier to him by the second. But he had to be strong!

Regina laughed as Tom struggled against his restraints to protect his daughter and potential son-in-law. Adrien stood up, giggling before falling down again,

"You wo…won't win…bitch!" Regina smirked, taking Marinette by the hair and stuffing her into a magic bag—cue screams from Tom and Sabine—and Adrien was next,

"Oh dear," Regina mocked, "I already have." And Adrien knew no more.

OoOoO

Zoe had woken up ten minutes prior, but Kelly was still driving.

"How much longer do you think?" Zoe asked, looking at the navigation. Emilie shrugged,

"There are infinitely many worlds, we're lucky to have found the other eleven pieces as quickly as we have." Kelly turned,

"I've actually known where the piece is for a while." Kelly said, "Ever since Elaine was born and Natalie died. I've known."

_"I found you the day before your eldest's fifth birthday."_

_"__Nobody? Nobody at all? Not even dear Maeve?"_

Zoe looked at the world in front of them. Earth. "No…" Kelly bit his lip and nodded to her. She hugged herself tightly, on the brink of a panic attack, before calming down. She looked at her stomach. Her babies were going to be born anytime now. She only had nine days left to save Eli. It was now or never.

"W-Well…what are we waiting for…" her voice became quiet, a hushed whisper, "Let's go…"

Kelly nodded, looking to Emilie with a sad look.

They landed in Gilbert, Arizona. In the gated community of Seville. The house in front of them was a tan farmhouse styled home with fruit trees in the backyard.

Kelly looked at the house and huffed, "Fine. Let's get this over with." He was interrupted by one Maeve Williams coming out of the house, looking as beautiful as ever. She saw them and froze,

"Kelly? ZOE?!" She glared, and they came inside, and she let them so she could speak freely without damaging her reputation, "What are you freaks doing back? I thought I was finally rid of you." She looked at Zoe, smirking, "Looks like you're more of a slut than I thought, getting yourself knocked up." Zoe was shaking and Emilie punched Maeve in the face,

"Where's the box, you vile creature. How dare you hurt her?!" Maeve frowned,

"Box? The only box I have is my makeup." Kelly frowned, looking to the black box sitting in the kitchen. Maeve glared, "Oh that? It was a gift. Decorative box. I personally find it hideous, but people are too damn nice in Arizona and I value having a good reputation." She sneered at her ex-husband, "Look, you found our freak of a daughter, and I am finally giving the good life with my singular _normal_ daughter, so fuck off."

"Mother?" They turned and saw a girl no older than eight, with light brown hair and black eyes matching her mother, "Who are these people?" She looked timid, not like the brat Eden had known and described.

"Nobody, Joselyn." Maeve said, "Go to your room." Joselyn obeyed as Zoe hid behind Kelly a little bit. She was being flooded with traumatic memories, looking into those eyes again. Maeve laughed at how pitiful Zoe looked, "You've always been a little coward." Emilie clenched her fists, but Kelly held her back as the evil woman continued, "Quaking and begging every time I punished her for disobeyed me." Zoe was shaking fiercely now, tears starting to spill down her cheeks, wrapping her cardigan around herself.

Kelly softened, "Maeve, this is your daughter, your flesh and blood…What makes you hate her so much?"

"As I've said before," she responded bitterly, clearly annoyed, "She's a freak of nature and I wish I had aborted her when I had the chance. But the little bitch decided to be four months early and rob me of that choice."

"SHUT UP!" Zoe couldn't take it anymore, she took her mother's hands, which got a disgusted look from Maeve, "This isn't you. You loved me once."

"HA! Who said I ever loved you?" But Zoe noticed in that moment, that she had hesitated, and for a split second, her black eyes changed to ice-blue.

Zoe was crying, "You said you would always chase away the nightmares…you promised you would always love me!"

"All lies, dear." When Zoe glared, she looked surprised, "Looks like the little brat got some guts. What changed? You found someone who would fuck you?" Zoe tried to fight back tears, but she could feel something other than the words as she gripped Maeve's hands tight enough to break them.

"I've always been stronger than you, Regina." Kelly and Emilie gasped, and Maeve's voice changed to Regina's,

"When did you figure it out?"

"Just now." Zoe responded, her confidence returning, "What did you do to my mother?"

_Maeve was skipping happily from the grocery store with her daughter's birthday cake. Kelly had just gotten home and she and Zoe were going to surprise him with hazelnut soup, the family favorite. Eden loved cooking as well, but she was two years old, so she would get hurt. _

_She smiled as she put the things in the back of her car, but frowned when she stumbled and dropped her coffee. Maeve rolled her eyes and was about to call Zoe to tell her she would be home soon when a woman came over,_

_"__Need help?" She asked. The woman shrugged,_

_"__I just need one thing."_

_"__And what would that be? Money?''_

_"__Your body." Maeve shrieked and was about to grab pepper spray when she was stabbed in the chest. _

_Then she knew no more._

"You killed my mother." Zoe transformed into Heartless, "You turned her into a fucking Darkling!"

Regina shrugged, "I didn't kill her. She can see everything. Oh how satisfying it was to listen to her scream as I hurt you. Annoying when she manages to take control and forcefully overdose on sleeping pills, but that's only a dull annoyance. What are you gonna do about it?" Heartless stabbed the woman in the chest,

"You can't stay in her body if the Darkling dies, or a small part of you dies. And something tells me you don't have much of that left. Release her." Regina coughed, glaring at her.

"You know I don't give up easily." Heartless smirked,

"That's why it's not an ordinary knife." The knife transformed into Excalibur, "I was forged in the dragon's breath." Regina sneered, then a darkness left Maeve's body, and her eyes changed from black to ice-blue.

Maeve Williams was back.

She looked up at Zoe, as the girl in question noticed what she had just done. She had expected the wound to heal when Regina was gone, but now her mother was bleeding out.

"My…my little girl…" Maeve fell over and Zoe caught her, "I'm so sorry." She was crying and Zoe held tight. Kelly gasped, but knew this was something Zoe and Maeve needed to talk through.

Zoe looked up, "Get help!"

"No…" Maeve looked up weakly, "Don't…there isn't anything you can do…Not that I want to. I could see everything, tried and failed to get out for so long…"

"Y-You never wanted to hurt me." If her mother wasn't dying in her arms, Zoe would be skeptical but elated, but now was not the situation she wanted.

"Of course not." Her breath was more of a wheeze, "I wanted you to be loved, Little Fireheart." She placed a hand on her daughter's stomach, staining the cardigan with her crimson blood. But she felt she babies, and she smiled, "At least you got that." Zoe's expression grew dark with rage,

"Regina hurt you. She hurt me too. And my family. J-Just hang on, and you can get a whack at the piñata as well!" Maeve started closing her eyes and Zoe shook her, "MOM! N-No…Not now…please…" She opened her eyes just a crack and cupped Zoe's wet cheek, gently touching the scar that was still there from when Gabriel tried to kill her.

"Be open to trusting others, my Little Hero. Don't be closed off…" she took off the necklace around her neck. It was a morganite gemstone with a golden chain. It looked like a magic amulet, "Take it…please…" Zoe slipped on the necklace and it glowed faintly as Maeve smiled, "I love you…"

Zoe held her, feeling her weak breaths until they came to a halt altogether. Maeve was gone, and had died smiling, finally free.

"MOM! NO!" Zoe shrieked, holding the limp body and checking for any signs of life, any sign that she hadn't just killed her own mother, "MOMMY, YOU PROMISED!"

_Zoe was four years old, running around the backyard of their small house, shrieking in delight as she and her mother played tag. Her dark hair was in braided pigtails that had many flyways in them. Maeve didn't need to go slow like a normal parent would, because this little girl had magic powers. Her golden blonde hair was in a low ponytail and was starting to fall out as her eyes twinkled with humor. _

_Zoe giggled and vanished in a corridor of dark energy, landing in her Mom's arms, "Got ya!" Maeve pretended to pout,_

_"__Ah man! You bested me again!" She smirked, "But I have one more trick up my sleeve?"_

_"__Really?" She shrieked as Maeve started tickling her stomach and under her chin, "Mommy! You win! I yield!" Maeve giggled and Zoe wrapped her tiny arms around her neck._

_Maeve bounced her and put her in a piggyback ride, "Come on, Little Fireheart. I think the pizza's here, and your sister needs food."_

_"__Can I feed the baby?" Maeve nodded,_

_"__I would love that."_

_That night, once Eden was asleep in her crib, Zoe was snuggled up with Maeve. Kelly was away with the military, and he still sent postcards, like the one they were looking at right now._

_"__Mommy…" Zoe looked up, "Is Daddy gonna come home soon?"_

_"__Of course he is." Maeve assured, "He always does, and he always has a way of making people bend to his will if they say no." Zoe giggled,_

_"__Like when he made me eat my peas."_

_"__That's right." That made Zoe sad,_

_"__Is Daddy like me? Different." Maeve looked down as she continued, "Or am I just a freak? Eden isn't like that, and neither are you." Maeve kissed her forehead,_

_"__Fireheart, nobody is like you, but not because you're a freak, but because you're special. Yes, you Dad isn't like most, he's just special as well." She hugged Zoe tight, stroking her hair, "You need to keep them secret because not everyone will see things that way. But even if you think the world is against you, you can always count on me loving you and staying by your side."_

_"__Promise?"_

_"__Cross my heart and hope for pie, stick a cupcake in my eye." Zoe giggled and curled up, falling fast asleep._

Kelly hugged Zoe as she wailed, clutching the dead body for hope that maybe a miracle would occur and she wasn't really dead. They needed to talk about this, not just have her die!

"Mom?" Emilie turned and saw Joselyn with her hand over her mouth, and her eyes were also no longer black, but blue-violet. She must have been infected with Regina's wicked magic upon her conception. The young girl was clearly afraid.

Emilie didn't know what to do. She wanted to assure Zoe, but it seemed she would start trusting, but now she was mourning an unimaginably painful loss. Regina was to blame for all of this.

Zoe turned, and Kelly got up, "Joselyn…" Joselyn back up, holding a phone,

"I'm gonna call the police! Stay back!" Kelly took her hands,

"I'm your father." It was true, he could feel it, she really was his. Joselyn was startled, and pointed to Zoe, "Who is she? Why did she kill my mother?" Zoe looked up,

"I'm Zoe. Her daughter." Joselyn glared,

"No. Mother only had me and Eden, the latter vanished six years ago to the point I don't even remember her!" Zoe stood up, gently laying Maeve's body on the couch with her hands over her chest where the wound was.

"I left before you were born." Zoe said, realizing that would mean she had been gone for nine years and should be 23. "The woman who raised you was an evil witch pretending to be Mother."

"W-Witch?! That's impossible! They don't exist!" Kelly softened,

"Joselyn Feyre Carpenter, you know that isn't true." Joselyn looked up at him in shock, and Kelly demonstrated his own power. She gasped quietly, looking down at her hands, "I thought I was just a monster…"

The door opened and a man came in. He was tall and rather attractive, with black hair and brown eyes, and a lean frame. He gasped at the sight, pulling out a gun,

"Who the hell are you?!" Joselyn took the man's face in her hands and a glowing orb left his mouth, and into hers. She swallowed as the man collapsed, dead. Emilie was guarding Kelly and Joselyn threw her hands up,

"I eat souls, makes them move on. Three guesses why I don't have any friends around here. I ate them." She looked up, "I can also copy the power and ability of anyone I touch." Kelly gaped,

"Damn. How long have you—how did you?"

"How long? Since I was two. The only thing I remember of Eden is her opening the door and a man grabbing her. There was a flash and then she was gone and I was very hungry. So I went outside and suddenly sucked out the soul of a scorpion. How I hid it? I feed on unsuspecting animals. It's painless for them, just an instant kill. But sometimes I lose control and consume a person." She looked dark at that, looking down, "I try to act like Mother…or rather the witch, but it's really hard when I know she would hurt me if she knew what I do. I…I can sting people with scorpion venom, and fly…and various sports I've never played. But never have I had any actual superpower."

Zoe walked over, "Joselyn, I'm impressed." She held out her hand, she was still crying, but her expression said she was putting her teachings at the Dean Winchester School of Handling Emotions to work.

Joselyn took her hand,

"Where are we going?" Zoe turned, trying to keep her eyes away from the dead bodies,

"Home."

OoOoO

Adrien woke up with a pounding headache. It took him a moment to register that he was pressed again cool iron. There was dim lighting in the box they were in. He stood up, shaking Marinette, "Mari? Are you okay?" Marinette woke up as well,

"Where are we?" Tikki and Plagg were already floating around, and then they shifted to their Fae forms.

Tikki was beautiful as expected. She had scarlet red hair and defined features, her blue eyes were filled with a wisdom and kindness. She also had impeccable posture and stood tall, with a slim build, plump lips, and full breasts.

"Let's see how we can get out of the box…" Plagg mused, looking around. He touched the walls, but nothing happened. Tikki frowned,

"It's laced with FaeBane. Meaning we can't use our powers on it." Adrien made a wind pick up, but it didn't dent the box at all. "We can't keep our animal forms up like this." Marinette looked around as well—the box was large enough for four grown people to walk around comfortable in, but was clearly a box and not a small room.

Plagg brightened, but also looked sad. "I have a plan." Everyone turned excitedly to him, but Tikki gasped,

"Don't you dare, Plagg!" Plagg bit his lip, hard. He put a hand on her shoulder,

"Please…sugar cube…it's the only way." Tikki sighed, looking over to a very confused Adrien and Marinette. She took off her black jacket and put it in her hands, where an Ashwood arrow now rested on top of it.

"It's an Ashwood arrow." Adrien mused, "So what? Can't you create a hammer or something."

"It's not a natural thing." Tikki said, "But a sharp stick of Ashwood is natural." She looked to be crying.

Plagg took the arrow, ignoring the obvious burning feeling from touching it. He turned to Adrien, his cat-like eyes brimming with tears, "I love you, kitten."

He took the arrow and stabbed himself in the stomach.

A black of Destruction erupted from the wound and the box disintegrated, but the three other prisoners were unharmed, protected by Tikki's power.

Adrien ran over to when Plagg was laying on the ground, it was hard to see anything other than the blood pouring out of the wound and the arrow still stuck in his kwami's stomach,

"PLAGG!"

**A/N: So Maeve is dead, Joselyn has joined the team, and Plagg is in danger. If you want to find out if he lives or dies, feed the actor kwami!**

**Regardless of if Plagg lives or dies, the next chapter has a ton of feels.**


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: While reading this chapter, think about the song "Stay Alive, reprise" from _Hamilton_. Just don't count to ten in French, or at least don't get to seven, otherwise Plagg is doomed to die. Even if he lives for someone else, you counted to seven and he's dead for you! My vast Author powers have cursed this chapter!**

**So now that I planted that in your heads, here's the chapter.**

**Chapter 25: Stay Alive (aka The Feels are Nigh)**

Adrien ran to Plagg's side, turning him so he was laying in Adrien's lap and not on his side on the cold stone floor. Oh god, the blood, it was everywhere. The floor, the arrow, Adrien's hands, the stomach area of his dark grey sweater….all of it was stained a dark crimson. Adrien was dully startled that he had red blood and not some other majestic color, but that was the least of his priorities.

Plagg looked up through half-lidded eyes, "Go…" he coughed, "Run…" Tikki bowed her head,

"Plagg's right, we need to run."

"No!" Adrien insisted, "Not without Plagg!" He turned back to Plagg, "Come on, i-it isn't that bad yet." He moved to take out the arrow, forgetting he too was Fae and yelped as the arrow burned him. He saw a distinct line-like burn on his right hand.

"Adrien?!" Marinette ran over, her eyes widening at the already second degree burn. Imagine the pain Plagg was going through with that thing still in his stomach if Adrien, a lesser Fae than him, had gotten a nasty burn from less than a second of contact. Adrien hissed a little, but sucked it up. Tikki tried to grab him,

"I don't want to leave Plagg either! But we have to go!" Adrien nodded, taking off his jacket and placing it on his arm and stomach as he picked Plagg up in a bridal style carry, the jacket being used as a pillow and extra protection for Adrien from the arrow.

"Please go…" Plagg begged, and Adrien looked down at him,

"I will. With you."

They moved as fast as they could through the stone tower—though it was debatable if it was a tower or a castle, because it honestly could have been either—when they heard Regina shriek "WHERE DID THEY GO!? FIND THEM!" so unless there were other escaped prisoners, they had to hurry.

They decided to rest in the cellar. Marinette tore some fabric off the hem of her shirt, rendering it a crop top that Adrien would have had a hard time controlling himself around in a different circumstance.

"Plagg, bite down. This is gonna hurt."

"More than…it already…does?" Marinette nodded, taking the shaft of the arrow,

"Yes. A hell of a lot more." She ripped out the arrow and Plagg bit down on the fabric. While it made the burning sensation better, it didn't help the blood that started pouring out faster. Plagg's tan skin was getting paler by the second. Marinette took off her cardigan, "Okay, we need to get off this world, but Plagg is losing too much blood to survive unless we wrap it. Tikki, can I have your jacket?" Tikki nodded and Marinette put the jacket firmly on the wound, earning a whimper from Plagg as she fastened it tightly with the cardigan so it was now a makeshift bandage covering most of his torso

"Plagg, ya still with me?" Adrien asked. Plagg looked up weakly,

"I'm fine…as fine as one can be with an arrow burning through their gut…" Plagg had a weak smile as Adrien picked him up again.

"Just focus on your breathing." This only caused Plagg to cough up some blood. Adrien took to walking behind while Marinette looked for danger with Tikki,

"Is Plagg gonna…"

"Die? I hope not." Tikki looked back to where Adrien was letting Plagg hold one of his hands tightly while still being carried, "But this just shows how much he loves Adrien. He would never dream of doing something like this for the others." She turned back to Marinette, "Plagg's last wielder was worse than Hawk Moth at his worst, a full on murderer. Plagg had barely begun to recover when Nooroo's power was used for evil, we didn't think he was ready. But Adrien turned out to be his true wielder." Marinette cocked her head,

"True wielder?"

"Like in _Supernatural_, how Sam and Dean were Lucifer and Michael's perfect vessel. It's the same with Miraculous wielders, you're my true wielder, Jared is Viirus', and so on. This is the first time we got all of them in one go—other than Nooroo and Duusu's. A true wielder only shows up once every thousand years. But with that comes a price," Tikki turned back, "A kwami is a part of every wielder's soul. Losing a kwami is devastating, but if Plagg dies on Adrien… he will _never_ be the same."

Meanwhile, Adrien was sobbing as he carried his friend.

"We…we've been through a lot." Plagg nodded,

"Yeah…" he started closing his eyes, "I'm sleepy…" Adrien bounced his elbow, bouncing Plagg's head,

"NO! Don't you dare! Stay awake, buddy!" Adrien smiled, trying to lighten the mood through his internal screaming, "Just for a little bit longer, then I'll get you some really nice cheese!"

"I'm not hungry…"

"And not just any cheese! Camembert—oh…" he sucked in a deep breath as Plagg looked up at him, "It must be really, _really_ bad…" the tears started spilling over, as it truly sank in that Plagg, his first _real_ friend, was dying. "Just stay awake, please…I promise we'll get you help, but you have to hold on."

Plagg's eyes glazed over, "I'll just slow you down, please leave me."

"No. Out of the question. Even if you die, I'll take you back so you get a proper burial—not like that will happen!"

"Found you." Adrien turned and saw Maescia behind him, holding FaeBane laced chains. Plagg growled, holding up his hand,

"Not today…bitch." He activated Black Storm and Maescia fell to her knees.

Plagg fell limp.

"PLAGG NO—…no…Plagg…we need to hurry." He gave Plagg's dying body to Tikki, "Take care of him. I've got this." Marinette sent him a worried look, but helped Tikki run off. Adrien turned to Maescia, the wind picking up dangerously.

"What?" Maescia asked, standing up, "You stepsister ripped off my hand!"

"AND YOU TRIED TO KILL ME AND MY MATE AND ALMOST KILLED MY FRIEND!" Maescia frowned,

"Almost? Honey, he's already dead. And he did it to himself." Adrien clenched his fists,

"He's still breathing!"

"Not for long." And Adrien lost it.

Activating a form much like Heartless or Tenshi, he demonstrated a Noble Fae Form. His eyes were orbs of neon green, his hair turned jet black as his skin took a grey tint and his fingernails turned to claws. His ears were even longer and pointier, and his teeth were pointed fangs. Cataclysm activated in both hands.

"H-How is that possible..!?" Maescia breathed. Fae Noir smirked, teleporting behind her and grabbing her by the throat, his voice a mix of his own and something much darker,

"Don't fuck with the God of Destruction." Maescia screamed as she turned to dust and crumbled.

Adrien changed back and ran to where Tikki and Marinette were. Plagg was slumped on the wall, unmoving.

"How is he?" Adrien asked. Tikki bowed her head.

"I've done everything I can, but he's asleep. I can't wake him up…his chances just dropped drastically." Adrien fell to his knees, taking Plagg's cold hand,

"P-Plagg…" Then they heard a weak chuckle and Adrien's eyes met Plagg's cat-like ones, which were glazed but open,

"I've still got something in me." Plagg said quietly, "I won't leave…without saying goodbye… you always said I was stubborn…" he chuckled, coughing up more blood.

"No! No goodbyes…y-you'll be okay…" This was not happening. It couldn't be happening. It couldn't… "Damnit, you will not die! YOU HEAR ME!? We have been through Hawk Moth and Mara and a fucking Barbie movie. You can pull through this…"

"Don't be angry at me." Plagg begged, "I never thought I would die either, eternal god and all." Adrien picked him up again,

"YOU STUBBORN PIG! FIGHT! YOU DON'T HAVE TO LEAVE!" He started weeping, "Please…don't go…I swear, if you die, I will bring you back from the dead and not give you cheese for a month!"

Plagg chuckled, "You monster…" he started crying, clutching his stomach, "I'm scared." Adrien nodded,

"I know. I'm scared too. But we have to be strong. _You_ have to be strong."

"Adrien…I—" Plagg gasped for air, causing Adrien to set him down in a panic. Plagg fell slack and his eyes closed. Unless they got him healed, he wasn't going to wake up.

"PLAGG PLEASE!" He bit his lip in determination, carrying Plagg up the stairs and into the main room of the tower, "Just stay alive for a little longer, so we can get you to a doctor."

"I can heal him." They all turned and saw Regina standing there, gesturing to Plagg, "Give yourselves up, and I will heal him."

"Go to Hell!" Marinette snapped, "We won't let you anywhere near him."

Regina shrugged to Marinette and turned to Adrien, "Are you really going to be that bad a chosen and let him die in your arms?" Adrien looked down at Plagg's limp body with ragged breathing, before pulling him close and taking a step back from Regina.

"You are the reason he stabbed himself!"

"Am I?" She put a finger under her chin, brushing back a strand of straight black hair, "Or was it to save you?"

"And you think we're just gonna sit here and be the bait?" Adrien snapped.

"I did." She replied, walking up to them, "Unless you want him to die. Regardless, you are going to stay captured!" She threw a hand out of perform a spell, and Adrien sprinted away.

"Tikki, Spots On!" Ladybug ran too, "What now?" She asked, amazed Adrien's Fae legs matched her speed as a superhero. Adrien used his wind powers to dig into his pocket and tossed a keychain onto the ground that turned into a Gummi ship.

"Get in!" Adrien set Plagg down on the bed in the back and got in the driver's seat, launching them away from that world. He looked back to where Plagg slept, "Mari, in the top of the closet, there's a sewing kit. Do you think you can…stitch him up? There's a hospital at that mall in the Lanes Between, and I have it in the navigation, but we won't get anywhere if he loses all of his blood."

Marinette grabbed the sewing kit and lifted up Plagg's blood caked sweater to reveal a rather horrific sight that made her need to swallow vomit. She held up the needle and thread,

"Okay…I can do this! Stitching up a person…just pretend it's clothing!" She stuck the needle in and gagged at the 'squish' sound it made as she started stitching up, thanking god that Plagg wasn't awake to feel the pain.

Tikki held Plagg's hand, "That will work for the blood loss, but it's the wound to his vitals and the Ashwood poison that worries me."

"What's the cure for Ashwood when it hurts Fae?" Marinette asked. Tikki sighed,

"Time. Time that Plagg doesn't have. Ashwood is even deadlier than FaeBane because it eats away at his magic—his life force. Even if Plagg recovers, he will be nowhere near as powerful, as seen by the fact he only stunned Maescia and it severely drained him."

"So if Plagg dies…" Marinette mused, "Adrien would be the next kwami?!"

"No." Tikki said, "Unless Plagg names him heir, that won't happen."

"Guys!" Adrien snapped, turning back to face them, "Don't talk like that! Plagg will be fine!"

"Right…" Marinette bit her lip at how desperate Adrien look, and placed herself in his shoes. Would she be any different if Tikki was the one on the brink? No. She wouldn't. "Sorry…"

OoOoO

Adrien carried Plagg into the mall,

"HELP! My brother! He needs help!" He ran through frantically. Plagg remained still, his head lolling limply like a child's toy, "Please!" He looked around until he saw a very familiar man, "Dr. Winston!?"

Dr. Winston turned with an expression that read "Kill me." Adrien ran over,

"Please! He's dying! I need help!"

…

Dr. Winston looked at the boy in Adrien's arms. He was Fae, and judging my the burns along the wound, he had been stabbed by Ashwood. You aren't a doctor in a magical universe unless you know the stuff.

Now, he knew there was no cure this boy had time for. He had actually been here on vacation, trauma therapy for the horrors the Agreste family showed him. He had just gotten a lovely massage and was on his way to yoga!

He felt the newfound zen leave him. The wound was already infected and that boy was so close to death it was shocking he wasn't already, as it was clear he had gone into irreversible shock, meaning he wasn't going to wake up.

What does one do in this situation? He couldn't help, didn't have the balls to try to help because he knew it was a lost cause, but the desperation and newfound hope in Adrien's eyes _hurt_. Did he say "Fuck this shit, I'm out." Did he run away? Did he run outside even though the ship wasn't here for him, meaning he would basically commit suicide in the Lanes Between? Did he hide in the bathroom? WHAT DID HE DO!?

When he became a doctor and was assigned to the Agreste family, he expected Adrien would get a paper cut or something and his parents would treat it like the end of the world. And for a while, it was like that. But when Zoe came around, the injuries started getting more serious and suddenly he was watching a woman die in childbirth when she had only just conceived. That was far above his pay-grade, and this was too. He was a pediatrician! Not a surgeon!

Yes, the Agreste family had a pediatrician caring for them. But in his defense, the other members of the hospital thought that was all that was needed for the sheltered kid! And when the injuries got more traumatic, the others decided "Nah, I'm not gonna fuck with that, let's leave it dumped on Dr. Winston."

After a second of silence that felt like hours to both, Dr. Winston sighed, knowing he would never escape the Fae teenager if he bolted.

"Look, there is a hospital ward here. I'll do what I can." Adrien beamed,

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Dr. Winston had a sad smile as he turned away, knowing he couldn't do much, and Adrien would likely kill him for it.

_Don't thank me yet._

OoOoO

Adrien paced in the hospital, actually wearing a hole in the floor. Marinette was supporting a crying Tikki. It was gonna be okay. Dr. Winston was here! And he took care of Zoe when she was in a coma, others said she wouldn't pull through and he had correctly predicted she'd be up in a week! They were in the hands of a professional, Plagg would be fine.

Dr. Winston came out after another hour. Adrien looked up,

"How is he?" Dr. Winston shook his head and everyone gasped. No… he couldn't be…

"He's in Irreversible Shock, and is comatose…I did everything I could with the other doctors, but there is nothing more we can do. I suggest saying your goodbyes." Adrien grabbed the man by the throat,

"YOU SAID YOU COULD SAVE HIM!" Marinette forced the iron grip off the doctor's throat,

"He said he would do what he could, but that wasn't enough…Come on, mon chaton, let's go see Plagg."

Adrien refused to accept what the doctor was saying. It had to be some fucked up prank Plagg had suggested now that he was fine. It had to be…

It wasn't.

Plagg lay flat on the hospital bed, cleaned up, but still so pale that his tan skin was as pale as Adrien's. He had an oxygen mask and was hooked up to all the things.

Adrien fell into the ugly green armchair and clutched Plagg's hand, begging for a small squeeze.

"Come on Plagg, prove them wrong…" He pleaded, looking up in hopes of seeing green cat-like eyes, only to find closed eyelids, "Please…"

Tikki sat down beside him, "There is a way, potentially, to save him."

"Anything!"

"The Inheritance Ceremony." Marinette cocked her head,

"What's that?"

"It means Adrien becomes the Kwami of Destruction, and he and I can perform the wish. We can't wait until he's…dead…to do this. Fae never come back right, like _Pet Semetery _wrong, like murderous zombie." Everyone shuddered at the idea of a zombie Plagg walking around and killing everyone. That was not what they wanted, not at all. Adrien nodded to himself,

"We can use the wish to heal him."

"Yes. And since he isn't dead, there won't be a price. And even if another noble Fae got hurt, they can easily fight it off. Plagg did this of his own will, otherwise it wouldn't have happened at all." Adrien stood up,

"What do I have to do?"

"You need to get him a vessel." Tikki said, "Doesn't have to be willing, but Plagg needs to verbally name you his successor." And then suddenly Adrien was gone, and appeared with a random man,

"Here is a pedophile."

"That works." Tikki said, "That was impossibly fast though."

"What? I got a text from Zoe saying Joselyn eats souls, so I looked up a list of pedophiles for her to munch on. Nobody will miss them."

Tikki touched the pedophile's forehead with one hand and Plagg's with the other,

"Plagg, slæpe tô brôðor. Lendan mid ðêos wæterbûc ðêah−hwæðere gêocian êower!" There was a green glow and the pedophile's eyes turned to Plagg's cat-like ones.

"Wha…what?" Plagg looked down at his vessel, "What happened?"

"Plagg!" Adrien beamed, "We need you to perform the Inheritance Ceremony!" Plagg's eyes widened,

"What?! NO!" He turned to Tikki, "What were you thinking telling him?! I refuse to put that burden on him!" Adrien glared,

"Stop talking suicidally! You'll die without this!"

"_You're_ the one talking suicidally!" Plagg snapped, "This is a big deal and you can't go back, there is no giving me the power back if you heal me!"

"You're the reason I didn't commit suicide!" Everyone gassed at his outburst, except Plagg, who bowed his head as though he knew that all too well, "Zoe helped, but you know I would have been dead before she arrived if it hadn't been for you!" Marinette had her hands over her mouth in horror and shock. Plagg looked away towards his normal body, and the weak yet rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor.

"I am not damning you to an eternity where you could kill the people you love with one touch. I doubt you could even have a family with my power. So no," he turned back to face him, "You will not succeed into guilt-tripping me into saying 'yes'."

"I-I…I can't watch you die!" Adrien pleaded. Plagg gave him a sad smile,

"Then don't look." He cupped Adrien's cheek, "You can't talk me into doing this. I'm going to return to my body now. I want you to go back to Zoe and get a whack at the Regina piñata for me. I love you, Adrien, I really do. I'm so sorry." The vessel fell limp, dead.

The sound of a flatline filled the room.

Doctors rushed in with an AED, trying to bring him back, start his heart again, but to no avail.

Time of death, 2:36pm, January 9th.

Adrien held the body tight, screaming in Fae tongue, anything he could think of. Plagg couldn't be gone. HE COULDN'T BE!

"Plagg no…"

Marinette turned to Tikki, "W-What's gonna happen now? There is no bad luck and destruction, only good luck and creation." Tikki sighed,

"A new Destruction will be born. My guess is, since Adrien is the true wielder, it will be his firstborn." Adrien wailed, throwing himself onto Plagg's cold, dead body,

"And how is that different from me being the new Destruction?! T-That stubborn cat! He—he didn't have…" he sobbed, "he could have still…" This had to be a nightmare. It felt like a part of himself, a part of his _soul_ went missing the second Plagg stopped breathing.

"Anything?" They all turned and yelped when they saw Regina sitting in one of the other armchairs, holding her fingertips together with a smirk on her face and one leg crossed over the other. She looked over to Plagg's corpse and chuckled darkly, holding an Ashwood arrow, the same one used to kill Plagg.

It didn't escape Marinette's notice that the hand she was holding the arrow with was gloved.

"And now I have my own use for you two…besides bait of course." The witch matron mused, gesturing to the two of them with the arrow, "_Especially_ if I kill Tikki." Se flicked her wrist and Marinette's earrings flew into her palm and suddenly the arrow was pointed at Tikki's throat, "Surrender or she joins her brother."

"Never!" Tikki blasted Regina's stomach with some sort of luck blast, which made the witch lose her footing and allowed Tikki to run away from her and shift into her animal form.

"You little bitch!" Regina growled, as Adrien shielded them both. Regina softened, "I can bring Plagg back using you two. I thought you would want that."

"Not using Marinette!" Adrien sneered, but his next words were quieter, "And…Plagg wouldn't want that." He gained a little confidence, "Besides, have you never seen either adaptation of _Pet Semetery_?! Fucking zombie here to kill us all! While each adaptation did it differently, the point still stands. Don't bring people back from the dead!" If Tikki hadn't warned him that was how Fae were brought back, he would be trying to find a way to bring Plagg back. And while Adrien currently wanted to die in a hole, he needed to protect his mate and Tikki, prevent Marinette from feeling the same feeling he did right now.

"That's resurrection." Regina said, "Not reincarnation. So I'm going to be taking all three of you anyways, but if you come willingly, the process will be much more…pleasant."

"Then Plagg will have died in vain." Marinette growled. Regina shrugged,

"Doesn't really matter because he's dead now. Nothing you can do about it except come with me."

Adrien sucked in a breath, "Fine." This would protect Marinette. They were already in checkmate, so this was the less painful option. A part of him wanted to ram himself into that arrow, but that wasn't what he should do. But he had a plan, or the starts of one, "But I get one phone call."

Regina looked rather bemused, "You're not going to jail, you don't need to make 'the' phone call. But whatever, anything to make you cooperate." Marinette looked confused as well. Adrien dialed Jared, knowing Zoe was busy and Jared was around,

"Zoe…"

_"No…this is Jared."_

"I know."

_"Then why did you call me Zoe?"_

"This call is to say goodbye." That got Jared's attention,

_"What? I'm listening." _He heard the sound of a pencil on paper and he mentally sighed in relief at the fact Jared had figured out the message would be cryptic.

"Remember this wind chimes I got you, those ones of the tower…remember me like that. Back where we were, those were the good days, and I'll be there again." He chuckled sadly, "You know what to do. Don't come looking for me. Goodbye Zoe." he hung up and turned to Regina,

"Time to go." He send Marinette a reassuring look and she seemed to understand his plan.

OoOoO

Jared looked at what he had written down of what Adrien had said. Wind chimes? Back where we were? He looked to Eden, "Does this mean anything to you." Eden looked at it,

"Hm…no. Not really."

"Why?" Gabriel asked, coming in and reading the paper, "Where did you get this?"

"Adrien and Marinette are in danger." Jared said, "Or at least it sounds like it. He was trying to tell me something, but I have no idea what the fuck he was trying to tell me."

Then it hit him.

On their travels before they hit the fucking Barbie world, they went to a world with a dark tower in the center of a barren wasteland that looked like a former battle field. it was very windy there, but the piece of soul they had been tracking wasn't there anymore, so they left.

"I know where they are!" Gabriel pulled out one of the magic potions that relieved the pain in his legs. He grabbed a semi-automatic machine gun,

"Let's go then!"

"Go where?" Camille asked curiously.

"The Dark Tower." All of them turned and saw Kelly come in, Joselyn hiding behind his feet. Zoe looked like a shell of herself, just sitting in the white armchair and rocking herself back and forth. She was stained with blood and was wearing a new necklace that she held tightly in her fist.

"Sounds rather cliche." Macy pointed out, "But it isn't. It's mother's stronghold other than the manor. That place is so dangerous that someone without magic won't last in there without a hell of a lot of help."

Eden gasped at the sight of Joselyn, who was still hiding behind Kelly's legs. She was a small girl, a little smaller than average. She was gangly and it was clear she hadn't eaten enough. But overall she was healthy.

"We need an inside man." Kelly said, looking down at Joselyn, "Regina still thinks she has the demon influence. The only reason she doesn't is because I removed it." Joselyn bounced on her heels,

"So I get to be helpful?" Kelly nodded, picking her up and hugging her tight.

"You don't have to do this."

"But I do, Daddy." she looked up with big eyes, "She killed my mother, and I'm the only one who could pass as being on her side."

Zoe looked up, "Okay. Someone take Joselyn now, and the rest of us leave at down."

**A/N: So Plagg is dead, and Joselyn is off to be an undercover spy.**

**If you don't want anyone else to die, remember to review!**


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 25: Sometimes Dead is Better**

Kelly dropped Joselyn off about a mile away from the tower. The little girl's eyes were once again black as she had copied Dausi's shapeshifting power.

"Last chance, Joselyn." Jocelyn shook her head and her Dad hugged her, "I'm so sorry I wasn't there to watch you grow up. But now that I'm here, I won't let you go." Joselyn wrapped her arms around his neck,

"It's time to kick some ass." She giggled and skipped off to the castle. Kelly waved, smiling sadly,

"That's my girl."

OoOoO

Regina growled in frustration as Adrien fought her with every fiber of his being. She had thought it would be easy for the Fae teenager to have sex with his mate, but all he did was fight her. She laced his chains with FaeBane, and still he fought.

"You are going to conceive that child!" She dragged his chains into the other room and Adrien's gag slipped out,

"Stop! Don't do this! If you hurt her, I will fight forever! Every second of every day I will be trying to get myself and Marinette away from you!" He started crying, even though his eyes were that of a dead man, "But…if you release Marinette, I'll obey. I'll never run, I'll never try to escape. Just let her go." Regina seemed to ponder this for a moment, before…

"If she were a normal girl, I would gladly agree to your terms. But she is the last Guardian of the Miraculous and the true wielder of the Ladybug. So once I kill Tikki, I can get both of their powers from a child of yours." Adrien simply fought harder, and she was surprised. She could tell he didn't care anymore, Plagg's death had broken him beyond repair, but he was still fighting, and she had no idea why.

"Oh sweet boy." Regina chuckled, "I'm not letting you leave here in one piece."

"One piece? Two piece? A million pieces? I don't care!" Adrien retaliated, "I don't give a damn about myself. I'm borderline suicidal as it is _without_ the loss of my first real friend." He smirked, "They will come for me whether I told them to or not, and you haven't seen the wrath of an angry Heartless like dear Mara has." Regina roared at the mention of her eldest and slapped him, her nails digging into his cheek and leaving three trails of blood.

Adrien didn't even flinch.

A knock at the door distracted them both as Mithian came in,

"Mother, Joselyn Williams is at the door." Regina frowned, more than a little confused,

"Bring her in." Mithian obeyed, and Joselyn came up a second later, looking dirty and pissed off, "What brings you here, dearie. Shouldn't you be off with your sisters?" Joselyn glared,

"Excuse me? My sisters?" She sneered, kicking Adrien a little, "If you mean that bitch who came in and killed my mother right in front of me, then that creature is not my sister. I was told by…sources…that you wish her dead, so I've come to offer my assistance." She shifted and Reigns then saw two Adriens. The second Adrien looked at the chained up Adrien, Joselyn's voice coming from it, "I can copy powers too, such as this one is from the shifter Dausi LeMay."

Regina smirked, "Hello little girl, welcome to the coven." She wrapped an arm around the child, "This is Adrien. His mate, Marinette, is in the back room. This one is being very difficult, but if you copied your father's power…"

"I'm hungry." Joselyn said, and Regina raised an eyebrow. There was a flicker of something dark in Joselyn's eyes, before she walked over to Mithian, cupping her face in her tiny hands, and ate her soul. The younger witch's body fell to the ground like a rag doll.

"Oh wow. That's actually really awesome." Regina wondered how, through Maeve's eyes, she hadn't noticed that this little one ate souls. She had been under the impression Joselyn was powerless. Joselyn wiped her mouth, her eyes glowing a faint green for a moment as she consumed Mithian's powers,

"You need them to conceive?" Regina nodded as Adrien went animalistic, growling and snapping.

"I refuse! Not like that!" Joselyn smirked,

"In that, as in so many things, your information is faulty." Adrien jumped up and ran at her, only to be pulled back down by the chains,

"I won't feel sorry when I kill you." Adrien snarled, "Any of you! YOU KILLED MY FRIEND!" Joselyn actually looked worried about that,

"Whom do you speak?" Adrien broke down in a fit of sobs and Regina grabbed him by the hair,

"Guess we have to do things the artificial way." She dragged him into the back room, turning to Joselyn first,

"I have some prisoners downstairs if you're hungry." She shut the door.

She strapped Adrien to the second stone alter next to Marinette. Both were surrounded by FaeBane, so the Fae boy couldn't escape.

"I am going to get the child of Destruction from you two." She said, "Whether you like it or not. Then I will finally be able to defeat the Warlock and the Worldbender." But then she noticed a problem. Adrien was still defiant and had put up the strongest mental shields she had even seen. With those up, she couldn't do anything!

Adrien clearly noticed his leverage, "Where's the last piece of Eli's soul? Tell me, and I will drop my mental shields." Regina knew that Plagg's death must have been what made him master them as perfectly as he had. He was a male with not much to lose, he didn't care about himself at all.

She stroked the violet gemstone on her necklace. "Your shields are strong, I'll admit that." But by stroking the necklace, she made an error in judgement, as Adrien broke through one of his bonds and grabbed the necklace and threw it to the ground,

"ELI! RUN!" The final soul piece saw Adrien and flew away at the speed of light. Regina glared, and Adrien smirked, "And since I figured it out on my own, I don't need to drop my shields! Take that, bitch!" He gave her the finger.

"You're pulling that card?" She sighed, "I'll pull this one." She took a dagger and pointed it at Marinette, "I will hurt her."

"Let. Her. GO!" Adrien roared, struggling against his now-strengthened bindings.

"Nah. I think I'm good." Regina turned to Tikki, who was chained to the floor, surrounded by FaeBane and Ashwood, "I have all the cards except your mental shields." She smirked, bending down beside the redhead, "Think you're so great now? I've killed two of our kind, one of which being Plagg—which was a genuine shock, I never hated him—and I am ready to wipe out the rest. All it takes is some FaeBane and Ashwood, and the great Goddess of Creation is nothing but a child!" She laughed, a cold cackle, but still one of humor, putting her fingers under Tikki's chin like Hans did to Anna in _Frozen_ when she was dying and he revealed his true colors, "Now Tikki, are you ready to watch what I do to your chosen? I did it to Natalie, I can do it to her." She gestured to Marinette, who was forced into silent submission, almost like Maggie's hypnotism on Jared.

Tikki glared, "Don't you dare!" When Regina held up her knife in Marinette's direction, the Goddess of Creation said two words that changed everything:

"Sister, please!"

OoOoO

Eli woke up with a start. He had been sleeping, caring for Elaine, when suddenly he was rushed with memories of a beautiful girl. His mate. His Princess.

Zoe.

He sat up with a start, "Zoe…" Molara turned to him, startled, as Eli jumped up, "Where is she?!"

"At the Dark Tower. The Final Battle has begun." Molara replied, "Do you…"

Eli then noticed he was glowing. He took off his shirt and saw the runes on his arm was gone. He had his powers!

Ice formed in his palm and he shrieked, getting flashbacks to how he had gotten the white streaks permanently stuck in his hair. He supposed he'd have to get used to that.

He knew why the ice had hurt him last time. It was because of the cracks that had been in his soul. That ice power was his, it wasn't brought on by the Damaged Miraculous. What the Miraculous did was break that power free of the runes that bound them. However, the ice tried to fill in the cracks, which lead to the severe damage.

"Ice affinity…" Molara mused, "Interesting…" Great. So he was best with ice. He supposed that made sense. He slipped on the Blue Jay Miraculous and Jaay flew out,

"Eli!" The kwami hugged him, "We got a terrible disturbance. Plagg is dead!" Eli and Molara gasped.

"I know what to do." She set Elaine down and then they were in an old castle. A suit of armor and a diamond sword floated in the center, "This was your grandfather's." She explained, "He was a great warrior. A Warlock, just like you. This is _your_ armor." Eli stroked the diamond chainmail armor. Somehow, it weighed nothing at all, despite being made of precious minerals. It looked like foggy glass with a slight blue tint, yet it was so much more.

He slipped the armor on and Molara gave him the sword, "Go to her. And I recommend bearing gifts, because she is in a mood."

Eli nodded, knowing exactly what his Princess needed.

OoOoO

"Sister?!" Adrien turned to face Regina and Tikki with a look of the utmost horror, "Do you just betray your entire family?!"

"No." Regina pulled her hair back to reveal Fae ears, "_They_ cast me out. So I vowed to destroy them."

"But why?" Marinette asked, dazed, "It seems deserved."

"When Tikki created the living things, she asked us all to love them, such insignificant termites. Plagg hated them, hence the Destruction of the dinosaurs, sinking of Atlantis, Noah's Ark—though that one was Tikki's idea—the explosion of Pompeii, stuff like that. For a while, we didn't mind, but when that mage suggested we bind ourselves to those little costume jewels, Tikki wanted us to go for it. But I refused. So they banished me from their world, and for a million years I was contained."

"You went on a rampage!" Tikki snapped, "You could have just calmly said no instead of killing half of China! I had to have Plagg pull Noah's Ark to cover up your tracks! But it seems you're no different! I should have known you would be inherently evil, with your power being manipulation."

"I thought this was about a prophecy." Adrien said. Regina shrugged,

"Why would I care about a prophecy that is destined to stop me if I hadn't done anything? My goal is to destroy Tikki and the others who sent me away. I was honestly going to let Plagg live, because he was against it too. But he softened over the years and died to save you, one of my sister's vile creations. But see how easy it is to take out the strongest of us, a Worldbender and a Warlock—one of my line nonetheless—would be a huge problem."

"They will stop you!" Marinette growled, "Eli's back and Zoe's pissed!"

"That's where you come in." Regina said, kicking Tikki to the ground again, "With the Child of Destruction by my side, with my many daughters, I would be unstoppable!" She walked back over to them, "So back to you and your mental shields. I will torture your mate until you yield."

"You wouldn't dare." Adrien bared his teeth, but shrieked as Regina dug her knife into Marinette's hand.

"Wanna try that again?" Adrien was about to yield when Marinette turned to him, her blue-black hair no longer in pigtails, instead falling all over the place,

"Don't do it, Adrien. Like I said, I'll die before she can use me, I'll kill myself first. If you yield, she wins!" Regina grazed Marinette's cheek with her nails,

"Oh honey, you think I would kill you? You'll wish you were dead! But, if you yield Adrien, not only will I heal her, but you both will get to live unharmed."

…

Joselyn went downstairs to feed, because the poor people down there were in such pain that death was a mercy. Besides, with every soul she consumed, she got stronger.

She was currently listening in as Marinette screamed while trying to convince Adrien not to yield, but then she heard this,

"FINE!" And she knew all was lost.

"Joselyn!" She turned and saw a young man with a faint glow about him. She had never seen him before, but one look into those cat-like eyes and she knew who he was.

"Plagg? What are you doing here?" Plagg sighed,

"I'm a ghost. My soul is tied to Adrien's. I died to save him and _this_ happens! So I guess I'm a little bitter. Please, save my kitten."

"But I haven't gotten the cue from Dad yet!" Joselyn whisper-yelled, "And how can I see you?!"

"One of your birth powers is necromancer. You can see ghosts and other things related to the dead. But that's irrelevant right now. Look, if Regina gets my power, it's all over."

"If I step in without Dad's cue, I could ruin everything!"

"It'll be ruined even if you don't!" Joselyn looked through a peephole,

"How do you betray someone who has all the cards?"

Plagg smiled, "By using your own deck."

"Like me?" They both jumped when they saw Gabriel, "I'm not standing by and letting my son being taken from me again."

"How can you help?" Joselyn asked, and Gabriel held up the butterfly Miraculous,

"Nooroo!"

Nooroo appeared, and took the form of a young man with lilac hair, dark purple eyes—now that Joselyn thought about it, they were a lot like Regina's—and wore a casual grey t-shirt and jeans.

"Yeah Gabriel?" It was strange to hear his voice as a normal teenage boy instead of high-pitched, but it was still clear to tell it was Nooroo by the lilac butterfly wings on his back.

"What do you know about Regina?"

"She's my older sister, formerly called Marjii." Nooroo said, turning to Plagg, "I can grant you invisibility from her, can you go in?" Plagg nodded and walked into the room, coming out within a moment, shaking and starting to cry.

"Adrien dropped his mental shields!" He started sobbing, his breaths getting more frantic as a panic attack started up, "Tikki is chained up and borderline unconscious! I don't have long before I go all vengeful spirit and lose all sense of chill!"

"What?" Joselyn cocked her head, Nooroo clarified,

"A spirit is like a normal person with certain limitations. For example, Plagg is tied to Adrien and Natalie—don't even ask me why, I think it's some inside joke—is tied to the kitchen. However, a vengeful spirit is someone who's death was an injustice, except there is no going back after turning. For example, it's kind of like an akumatized villain versus the normal person. Natalie has no reason to go vengeful really because she still has her love and a means of contacting her daughter. Plagg, on the other hand, died to save Adrien, only for that to be in vain."

Plagg was curled up in a ball, and Gabriel bent down, and Joselyn noted he could actually see the ghost Fae. Was he a necromancer like her?

"How long do you have?" Plagg looked up, his eyes bloodshot from crying, his words came out fast and frantic,

"I don't know! Seeing Adrien like that snapped something and I think I'm going insane and—"

"Calm down…" Gabriel ran his hand through Plagg's hair in a petting motion, which Adrien had mentioned calmed Plagg from a panic episode like this. His eyes brightened, "That's it! What if we make it seem like you have gone vengeful!" Plagg raised an eyebrow and the others looked confused,

"You want me to haunt her? But she's my sister, she isn't exactly scared of me."

"You don't need to scare her. Just distract her long enough that Nooroo can get Adrien and Marinette out while I get Tikki. I'm DemiFae, so I'm not affected like a normal Fae, and we need to keep Joselyn's cover. Plagg, just do the thing ghosts do in _Supernatural_. There are many to pick from."

"Again, don't think she'll be scared of me."

"Just look like you did right before you died and then some." Joselyn said, "Besides, from what I'm hearing in there, Tikki is her problem, not you."

"I was kind of on her shit list." Nooroo said quietly, but was not responded to, only duly noted.

"So it's like how Lucifer hated God, but didn't really have a problem with Amara. Hell, if she hadn't tortured him, he probably would have worked with her." Plagg thought about it,

"She did like me enough." He bit his lip, "Okay."

…

A little magic here…little more DNA there…a little extra dark magic wouldn't hurt. And there she had it! She inseminated the Guardian girl, and perfect! Soon the little Child of Destruction would be hers! She turned to a very horrified Tikki, who was very weak and pitiful looking. It excited her.

"And now, sister, to repeat the process once you're dead." She raised the knife to strike a death blow when—

"Marjii…" Both Tikki and Regina turned and saw Plagg standing there. His skin was death-pale, he had bags under his eyes, there was still blood pouring out of his stomach wound and staining the clothing he had had stabbed himself in. His eyes were bloodshot and tears were pouring down his face. He looked so sad.

"Plagg!?" Regina backed up, truly terrified, "Impossible! I watched you die!" Plagg started walking towards her with bare feet,

"I can't move on. Why can't I move on?" He started crying, "Why did you hurt me?"

Adrien looked at Plagg through half-lidded eyes, "Plagg…you're alive!" Plagg shook his head, and Adrien looked afraid, "Please don't tell me you're a _Pet Semetery_ zombie!"

Plagg sent Adrien a sad look, taking in the torn clothes and weary body, "I am not a zombie. But the movie got it right," he turned to Regina, baring pointed teeth, "Sometimes Dead is Better." He lunged, brandishing black claws and went for Regina's throat. The witch dove out of the way, only for Plagg to crash into the FaeBane, and shook it off, sending most of it flying out the window. Tikki stood up,

"Thanks Plagg!"

"I don't know how much longer it's gonna be me talking, so get them out of here!" Tikki nodded and stumbled away to Adrien and Marinette's restraints while Plagg—who was losing his sense of self by the second—attacked Regina, who was more terrified than any of them had imagined. Yes, Plagg looked like something out of a Stephen King novel, but she was one of the first evil things to fucking exist! Maybe the fact it was her brother got to her?

Regina shrieked and vanished into a cloud of smoke.

Tikki ran over to her ghost brother, "Plagg!" But Plagg swatted her back, clutching his head,

"Stay back! Please!" Adrien refused.

"Plagg? What's wrong?" He took Plagg's semi-transparent hand, "If we get you a vessel fast, we can bring you back! Come on!"

"No…" Plagg fell to his knees, "I can't control it! RUN!"

But it was too late.

They watched as Plagg's skin became ashen, his teeth sharpened, and his green eyes became red as his pupils slit. The creature in Plagg's place wasn't Plagg at all. It lunged at Marinette—who was barely awake—but Nooroo blocked the blow,

"Go! Plagg's turned! Vengeful spirits attack everyone that isn't the one they're trying to protect! He doesn't even recognize us!"

"He only wants to keep Adrien safe!" Joselyn informed, "And he'll stop at nothing to do it."

"So Adrien has a ghost guardian. Great." Gabriel groaned, "If Plagg didn't look like a zombie right now, I would say that is wonderful."

"This isn't Plagg!" Tikki reinstated, "It's like Weredad. He would cut Adrien off from the universe as a means of protecting him." Joselyn turned to a horrified Adrien as he watched his friend—to whom he had started having hope of getting back—turn into a monster right before his eyes.

"Adrien…you have to make him move on." Adrien bit his lip, hard, to the point blood trickled down his chin.

"Can I get _my_ Plagg back, not this thing?"

Tikki shook her head, "He has to move on, or anyone around him is in danger. And he'll be miserable. The real Plagg is in there and I can tell he's fighting to get out, but he won't succeed." Nooroo saber broke and he created a baton in his hands, continuing to fight his feral, somewhat undead brother.

Adrien let the tears fall, not bothering to stop himself, "Plagg! Stop!" The creature turned from Nooroo and walked over to Adrien. It's voice didn't sound like Plagg either, but like some lifeless dead thing,

"What's wrong, kitten?"

"P…Please stop…" He looked into red eyes and his heart and stomach felt like it had been stabbed with every knife in the world, "I…I need you…but not like this. Never like this. You…You need to move on."

"Regina hurt you!" The creature had an expression that mirrored Plagg's, earning this being the title Anti-Plagg, "I need to protect you!"

"No. You don't. I'm going to college soon. I'm grown up. I don't need protection anymore…I just want my friend. But if keeping you here will make you dangerous and miserable, I can't live with that." He hugged Anti-Plagg tight, hoping to react the real Plagg, "Please…it's too painful to see you like this." He saw a faint glow and looked up into green cat-like eyes, not red.

Plagg returned the hug and Adrien cried, "I love you, Plagg." Plagg smiled, looking him in the eyes,

"That's all I needed to hear." He vanished into thin air. No dramatic leaving. He just blinked out.

Adrien fell to his knees and sobbed.

Gabriel cautiously walked over to him, "Adrien…" he wrapped his arms around his son and Adrien clung to him like no tomorrow.

He just sat there, letting Adrien cry his heart out, for just under a minute before Joselyn gestured it was time to go.

"Come on, let's get to the base. The others are worried about you." Adrien just latched on tighter,

"Dad…" Gabriel tried not to beam at that, a more casual parental greeting than 'Father', and he just let Adrien hold on.

"Everything is going to be okay, eventually."

**A/N: Just to make Plagg's death hurt a little more. Next chapter is the start of the final battle (like final battle prep) so that is the start of where people are gonna die. So unless you want all your favorites to be picked off one by one, REVIEW! Because as seen with Plagg and Natalie, I am not afraid to kill people off.**


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N: If you've lasted this long, I don't need to give warnings.**

**Chapter 27: Panic before the storm, because…calm? What's that?**

Tikki was carrying Marinette with Nooroo, because the poor girl was bloody and exhausted. Adrien on the other hand was an emotional wreck, being supported by Gabriel.

"Adrien! Mari!" Zoe ran over as fast as a woman at eight months pregnant with twins can manage—though it's Zoe, so she still had quite the speed to her. She hugged Adrien, then frowned, because everyone was accounted for except… "Where's Plagg?" She expected for him to be tired, in his animal form, and demanding cheese after fussing over Adrien. Then she noticed that Adrien's eyes brought a whole new meaning to the term "dead inside." Adrien started crying harder and Zoe knew there was a problem, "What happened?"

"Plagg…didn't make it…" Tikki choked out. Zoe frowned,

"He got kidnapped?"

"W-Worse…" Adrien's lip quivered like one would expect a small child. And then it hit her,

"Oh…what happened?"

"He stabbed himself with an Ashwood arrow so his Destruction would be released from his body and not bound by the FaeBane. We tried to save him…" Zoe looked back to Adrien, who looked like a walking corpse, and dead on his feet—pun not intended—she sat on one of the benches and let him sob on his shoulder.

"I…I'm sure you did everything you could."

"I-I tried…" she stroked his messy blonde hair as he spoke, "He wouldn't let me—he wouldn't let me save him…" He gripped the collar of her shirt, his eyes like a madman, "HE WASN'T HUNGRY! I offered to get him as much cheese as he wanted if he stayed with me and he _wasn't hungry_!" Something told her the three words denying hunger had traumatized Adrien.

He laughed, a snapped, broken, maniac cackle that quickly turned to more sobs, "He's always hungry!" She turned and saw her Dad standing a few feet away, hugging Joselyn and sending Adrien a worried look.

_"__Is he okay? That's a stupid question. Will he be okay?"_ She thought it, knowing he would read her mind.

_"__It will take a lot of time."_ Kelly responded, _"He wasn't transformed when Plagg died, so he will _physically_ be okay. But I'm in his head, seeing what he saw, he and Plagg and a bond one would have with their mate—call it his platonic mate—so him losing Plagg is just as bad as if you lost Eli forever with no hope of getting him back. He was forced out of denial when he needed to make Plagg's vengeful ghost move on, so anger will be directed at Regina, depression and bargaining will last for years if not forever."_

Zoe gasped, hugging Adrien as though she could erase his pain, "Oh Kitty…"

"Marinette!" Tom and Sabine ran over from their tent, taking their daughter. Kelly smiled, but it didn't reach his dark red eyes—meaning he was very mad, though it was clear it wasn't directed at anyone there.

"Get her out of here, she is on no condition to fight." He flicked his wrist and the two bakers disappeared with their bloody daughter. Joselyn looked up at Kelly, very proud of herself,

"I ate Mithian's soul and got more powers!" To the surprise of everyone, Jared was walking over, but upon hearing that, turned right around.

"Nope." Zoe heard him say, "Not getting my soul eaten today." Joselyn bounced over with the energy of a normal eight-year-old, grabbing his hand with a bright smile on her face. Jared pulled the collar of her purple and blue flannel down—not in a creepy way—and once he didn't find the Mark of Cain on her chest, he sighed in relief. Joselyn just cocked her head in confusion,

"I'm hungry." And Jared continued speed walking away. Kelly laughed and gave her a sandwich that she happily munched on.

"That easy?" Jared turned around to the smiling girl. Joselyn nodded,

"I was just gonna ask you where the fridge was. What did you think I was gonna do?"

"I thought that was code for: I'm gonna eat you now, just giving ya a head's up."

Emilie ran into the courtyard of their tents, "Adrien!" She ran over and hugged him, relieved her son was safe. She gasped, feeling his forehead, "He's running a high fever!"

"That's from being around FaeBane for hours." Tikki explained, looking a little flushed herself, "That and he burned his hand on Ashwood and it's probably infected." Emilie looked down to see Adrien was asleep, yet still crying.

Gabriel collapsed with a yelp as his pain reliever wore off, leaving him just a crippled as normal. Both Jay and Jaay—which was so confusing to keep track of, thank god one was male and the other female—helped him up. They had since been calling the female Jay "Emerald" to avoid confusion, using her eyes as an identifier.

Kelly took Adrien, "I'll get him to the hospital tent."

OoOoO

Emilie sat with Kelly, watching Adrien sleep on the bed. He had cried until he drained his tear ducts, yet while no more tears fell, he still make noises that stated he would still be crying if he could.

"Can you…" Emilie frowned, "Erase his pain? Like you did for me? Or at least ease it." Kelly shook his head,

"No. Plagg is no longer in the chain, only the Chain of Memories, so for me to erase Adrien's pain, I would be wiping Plagg from his mind completely, which could have any sort of repercussion because I am not great with memories. For all the power I posses, I can't… I'm sorry."

"Do you think you could talk to him? You lost your kwami. Or is it too soon?"

"Way too soon."

"Right…sorry." Kelly sighed,

"It's fine. But I doubt I could help regardless. Pikko and Plagg's deaths were very different. Plagg's will be treated more like a suicide. I didn't know Pikko was dead for however long I was in a coma, and I still don't remember when it happened because I lost consciousness the moment it happened. Adrien watched Plagg stab himself and watched him die, unable to do anything." Emilie nodded to herself as he spoke, "So while I know my own experience, the only way I could put this into perspective is if Eli having his soul shattered was his own choice. I don't even know if Adrien will be okay…there is a possibility, a higher one that I would like to state, that Adrien will…" he made a hanging gesture by raising his fist above him and bowing his head.

Emilie gasped, "No…" Kelly nodded to himself,

"Yeah. A kwami's death is unimaginable for the wielder. And for Adrien, not only was their bond once every thousand years, he will blame himself. There is the chance Adrien will take his own life, unable to handle that pain." Emilie started crying, taking another look at her son, "There is nothing we can do for now, because for now, he's already dead. He might be breathing, but grief has killed the Adrien we both know."

Emilie just cried, "P-Please…save him." Kelly nodded,

"I'll look through the books. But for now, we need to break his fever."

OoOoO

Emilie and Gabriel were by Adrien's side when Zoe came in,

"How is he?"

"Not good." Gabriel responded, "He hasn't woken up yet, but I think he's started having nightmares and Dausi is involved. He's muttered her name a few times."

Zoe walked to Dausi, who was in her tent, trying out her armor they had designed to shift with her.

"Do you have any idea why Adrien would be having nightmares about you?" There was more than a little accusation in her tone. Dausi shrugged,

"I have no idea. I haven't even seen you guys since my honeymoon. And I don't think I did anything that would get such a reaction." Zoe nodded to herself, before running to her Dad,

"Dad! I need you to Dream-walk. Adrien's having nightmares and I'm a little worried about the possibility of what that means." She remembered talking to someone on her adventures that mentioned a creature with the same name as her inner demon, someone who could wipe out worlds.

Kelly nodded and his eyes rolled into the back of his head, even though he was conscious,

He woke up inside the Dark Tower, where he saw Adrien talking to a woman who looked like Zoe, except she had stark white hair and skin, contrasted by black eyes identical to Maeve's in her time as a Darkling. She was wearing a black and dark gray collared suit adorned with gold accents, black trousers, a black and brown belt embellished with a purple stone, and dark gray boots.

"You can't be Dausi." Adrien said, and Kelly noticed he was scared, and stained with blood, "The Dausi I know is different."

This woman laughed, wielding a large hammer, "Just because we have the same name and similar origins doesn't mean we are the same person. I'm like her, but better."

"Well, what the hell are you doing here? What does that have to do with me?" Adrien looked at the hammer, "Are you going to kill me? Because I'm not afraid to die—hell, I would thank you. I'm past saving, I know that."

"See," Anti-Dausi—basically if there was an evil version of someone, unless they had a specifically different name, like a superhero identity, they just got "Anti" added to their name—walked slowly towards him like a predator tormenting her helpless prey, "I'm not going to kill you, that's a waste. I could just feel your endless despair and decided to check it out. The only reason I'm even here is this witch called Regina claimed to know about the Worldkiller—a thing I'm looking for—and would tell me everything in exchange for helping her win this war. I would normally torture it out of her, but I don't pass up a chance to slaughter people. I even killed a version of you once—well, I might have any number of times, but this particular version was memorable. Killed your little kwami right in front of you. Kind of wish I had kept that version of you alive if _this_ is your reaction."

"What's the point of this?" Adrien snapped, and Kelly was writing all of this on his arm so it would transfer to his body, "Not like I care. And isn't it ruining the surprise?"

"Doesn't really matter." Anti-Dausi replied, "I'm the most powerful being in the multiverse. Not even your little Worldbender friends can beat me. I told you because I wanted to see how dead you truly are." Adrien glared as she started walking away in a taunting manner, "There's still a bit of life in you. So I'll tell you something. Join the battle tomorrow. There you will watch your precious family meet their ends, and the last light within you will die!" She smirked at the look of horror on Adrien's face and turned directly to where Kelly was listening in, "Kelly, it's rude to eavesdrop. But Regina asked me to keep you alive, so I'll wait. For now at least."

And then Kelly found himself booted from the dream and noticed Zoe shaking him, "Dad!?" She sighed in relief, "Thank god. You were getting really pale." Kelly got paler,

"We have a serious problem."

He explained the situation to her, and she fucking lost it.

"FUCK!" She ran her hands through her hair, trying not to cry at how hopeless things had just become, "Something stronger than me and Eden!? We are _so_ screwed!"

"What about the Worldkiller?" Eden asked, crossing her arms, "What's that? And why does she want it?"

"Don't know. Maybe it's a weapon that works against her?" Joselyn pondered it, "If I were someone super strong and evil, I would spend my time trying to destroy the thing that could beat me."

"Sounds about right." Kelly fell limp, only his eyes were open and glowing, which meant he was following the chain, before starting to seize.

"Dad?!" He shot upright,

"Okay…I did some research. I wasn't able to get in Anti-Dausi's mind because there is no mind to invade. So then I invaded Regina's mind, left some rather disturbing thoughts in there. But from what I gathered, this bitch knows what it is, but not where. But it is a weapon. So I did even more digging and it turns out combining the Bear and Dragon Miraculous creates some sort of super-warrior who would at least give this bitch a run for her money."

"So that means I have to fight her?" They turned and saw Jared standing there, and he held up the Dragon Miraculous and gestured to the Bear Miraculous already on his wrist. "Lovely."

"Jared, why do you have my Miraculous?"

"Because not only do I need it more than you, this is payback for those gems and Death Acid in the fucking Barbie world." That was fair.

"We don't even know if that would work." Kelly said, "But I'm glad you're volunteering."

"Could I help?" They all turned and saw…

"Eli!" There stood Eli, wearing some rather nice armor that was clearly enchanted. He had a sword that looked like the Yang to Excalibur's Yin. The most noticeable thing was that he had the entirety of his pupils, and he had a very strong magical presence.

Zoe ran over and hugged him tight.

"Eli. Oh Hero, I've missed you." She looked up, "I…It is you…right?" He replied with a smile,

"It's me. I remember everything. Which is admittedly hard to keep track of because my body, mind, and soul were doing three different things. But yeah, it's me. And I come bearing gifts."

"Chocolate?" For a moment, she temporarily forgot the huge problem at hand. Eli shrugged,

"An army." Zoe gaped, looking outside to see thousands of people and animals waiting just outside the camp.

"How did you…?"

"In the last twelve hours since my restoration, I have been quite busy." Zoe gaped as he spoke, "All of them are survivors of Regina's ways, or something called Dausi, but I am pretty sure it's not our version of Dausi. Some of them you met in their worlds. The Mermaid Kingdom was quite happy to help. And apparently literally all except three of my aunts were against Regina, so they are all very happy to help."

"Best. Gift. Ever!"

"Ready to go talk to your army, my Queen." She smirked as she had upgraded from "Princess" not that she would mind the pet name, though she suspected it would go to their daughter—assuming they lived through this shit.

"I've been waiting my whole life to hear those words." He took her hand, and the two grinned.

OoOoO

That night, Eli and Zoe were in bed in their tent. She was curled up against him on the firm cot, her dark hair, which was once again to her upper back, flowing freely.

"You didn't have to do all of this." She said, "I love it, but you didn't have to." He smiled, and kissed her,

"How else would I apologize for forgetting you for so long? You were the last to come back, but that means you are the most special." Zoe giggled at the love, but sighed, her mood darkening, "What's wrong?"

"I don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow. If Jared can't handle this Anti-Dausi thing, we're all screwed. Besides, I feel bad for the guy. He hasn't exactly had a pleasure cruise here, and I have almost gotten him killed a good three times. I just feel bad, because the weight of the war is on his shoulders." Eli had a look of mock offense,

"Do I need to challenge this man to a duel for your love?! Because I will!" Zoe sat up and smacked his arm,

"NO! Don't you even joke about that! I just don't want Jared working alone with this. Besides, it's only a matter of time before he's dating your sister!" Eli laughed,

"Don't let him hear you say that. I joked how long I had to wait until I became an uncle, and Kelly and Dad had to hold him back from punching me while Cam turned a lovely shade of tomato."

"She gets it from you." Zoe taunted, "And if you know me at all, you know I'm gonna be taunting Jared forever."

"I expect no less. That's part of why I married you." Gods, how did he know exactly what to say to distract her from her troubles? What did she do to deserve this young man?

He noticed the moment she wasn't distracted anymore and sat up with her, "Everything is going to be fine, Zoe, you know that. Our babies will be fine too. I'm going to protect all three of you, or go down trying." Zoe gave a watery chuckle,

"Don't say that. I can't lose you again. Children be damned, if you died, I would join you." Eli rolled his eyes, though she knew he didn't like the idea of that—even though she also knew he would do no differently,

"Good thing I can't take damage."

"What?!" Eli pulled out a dagger that had been forged in dragon breath—meaning it could cut and kill literally anything—and sliced his forearm…only it wasn't his skin that broke, it was the blade. Zoe gaped as Eli shrugged,

"How that happened is a rather hilarious story involving what my soul was doing, and I will reveal it when Regina comes into the picture. I was gonna hide it from you until then, but I can't say no to you." Zoe giggled,

"Just a baby hint?"

"Damnit! I can't disobey my Queen." He chuckled, "358/2 Potion Hell. Enough said." Zoe's eyes widened, and when she saw Eli was dead serious, she laughed so hard her stomach hurt,

"Oh that is exquisite!" She laughed even harder to the point she was crying, "Of all the ways to become invulnerable!" She curled up with him, "I haven't laughed like that in so long."

"Well I'm glad my misery bring you joy."

"It does. It really does. That or that particular story is just hilarious."

"Wish you had seen me in the badass black coat."

"I wish I could too." The two laughed, relieved to be in each other's arms at least one more time.

…

Emilie sat by Adrien's side. Now that he was awake, he was still delirious—or he could be doing something magical, she honestly had no way of telling—as he was reading the grimoire and muttering words to himself,

"Worulddêad êow stêpan, Darkling heonone hwær." He read through and continued muttering words like this. She checked his temperature: 130.2. While she knew from Gabriel that Fae were naturally warmer, meaning this was probably a normal Fae fever, it still worried her as it was twenty degrees above the death sentence for humans. So she had no idea what that fever would equal for a human.

Gabriel came in, "Em, take a break. I'll stay with Adrien. Besides, he seems content enough while reading that book, not like he's ready to hang himself." What Kelly had said still haunted her, the idea of her precious baby boy taking his own life…it hurt. He had been practically catatonic until she gave him the book to try taking his mind off things.

She was glad Kelly was honest with her, didn't try to glaze over things. It showed he would rather have a hard talk in favor of just lying, something she knew she wasn't good at doing if Adrien's childhood had any say in it. Kelly was a good man. Even if his daughters had had it rough from their mother—or the Darkling in Maeve's place—Kelly taught them enough that they were all fine young women and they were going to go places. Assuming they didn't all die, that is.

She didn't notice when Gabriel was suddenly next to her, "Okay. Go tell Kelly how you feel." Adrien didn't seem to hear them at all, not pay any heed to the soup his father brought in for him. He hadn't eaten at all either and she was getting really worried.

"What? Why would I do that? He already knows I see him as more than a friend."

"But does he know you _love_ him?" Emilie turned to him, "There is a difference. I think things would have been different if Natalie had told me how she felt. You know…before things spiraled out of control with the whole Hawk Moth thing. Tomorrow is gonna be hard, and you never know if this is your last chance to tell him."

She didn't want to think about the battle tomorrow. How hard it was gonna be with this demon creature. Nor did she want to think about how handling said creature fell unto Jared alone, who had been through enough as it as. Kelly, sweet man, did need to be better at hiding the drawings he used when fixing Jared's mind. She didn't know the context, but she knew he was orphaned young.

She walked outside and took a breath of the fresh night breeze. As empty as this land was, it was beautiful in it's own right.

She found Kelly in Joselyn's tent.

"Daddy?"

"Yes?"

She peeked through a small tear in the fabric, making sure to keep her mental shields up. She wasn't good at it, just enough so he needed to actually do some digging to figure out what she was thinking. He could still tell she was in the area.

Joselyn was holding her pillow, "I'm scared. I don't want people to die. Seeing Plagg turn into a monster like that was scary." Kelly stroked her hair,

"I know. You shouldn't need to see something like this so young. But I guess that's the burden of being in the Carpenter family. Nothing is normal. Just try to sleep."

"I can't sleep. Every time there's a noise I get scared…" Emilie realized that Joselyn was a pretty normal eight-year-old. She didn't know why she would expect otherwise, other than Regina's abuse through Maeve, but that seemed more like neglect than anything.

She froze when Kelly began singing, and it was clear Zoe also got her phenomenal voice from him,

_"__Moonbeams and starlight, magical twilight_

_The warmest ray, hear it whispering your names_

_Rainbows at midnight, sparkling night skies_

_Don't go away, stay another day."_

Joselyn smiled as Kelly tucked her in on the small cot, "Try to sleep, sugar. By next week, this will all be over." Joselyn closed her eyes and Kelly left the cot, jumping in surprise when he saw Emilie,

"Oh! Uh…hey Em. I was about to go see Harry then hit the hay. You?" She couldn't say those three words. God, why couldn't she say those three words she had come out here and away from her son to say?!

"I'd like that—I mean! I should go see Harry too!" She could practically feel someone slow-clapping. Kelly lead the way to Harrison's tent, where he was fashioning something or other.

"Guys! Perfect timing! Emilie, I need your measurements." She frowned as he put a little gem-like clip on her chest,

"What are you doing?" She then noticed the Miracle Box on his desk with the various Miraculous scattered about,

"It's a prototype, but I'm trying to replicate the Miraculous basic function, of providing an indestructible suit, but with science and no kwamis. I never got it right for Kels." He pressed the gem and she was covered in the basic suit, but there was no mask. It went as high as her neck. It was a really dark color,

"What's that stuff made of?" Kelly asked.

"Vantablack," Harrison said happily, "the darkest material ever. Last year, researchers announced the creation of a new material so dark it can hardly be seen with human eyes. Vantablack, is made by putting a bunch of microscopic carbon nanotubes, each 10,000 times smaller than a human hair, together on a piece of foil. The tubes are so densely packed that almost all visible light is absorbed into the material and the foil appears texture-less no matter how it's bent or crumpled. And because it's so hard to see, Vantablack also has potential implications for stealth military gear."

"Damn." Emilie looked down at it. Harrison looked rather proud,

"You have no idea how fucking long it took me to do this." He said, "Making sure it was strong enough to stop a bullet. It also comes with this," he held up a small piece that went around her mouth and nose, as well as going up and covering her ears. "I did some research on the Anti-Dausi, apparently if her sand gets in your system, it rips you apart. So I made one of those for everyone. It doesn't make communication difficult at all."

"You made over a thousand of those in three hours?!" Emilie found herself impressed. Harrison nodded,

"Yeah. When I got the magic 3D printer, things were so much easier! I'm about halfway done with the other prototypes now that I got the measurements."

"How exactly did you get those measurements?" Kelly laughed as Harrison held up an old tablet that looked to be from the mid-nineties. Emilie frowned at the thing until Kelly clarified,

"He's had that tablet since we were thirteen. It's enchanted. It can access all the knowledge in the multiverse, any timeline, past and present. Future is a no, but nobody can type in the future."

"So if I wanted to see the exact moment my son and daughter-in-law conceived my grandchildren, I could. But unlike Kelly, I have boundaries." Emilie rolled her eyes, looking at the suit,

"So what can this thing do?"

"It can't do much, being a prototype and all. But I used some of the tech used on Kelly's robot arm. So it has blasters, and a hidden camera in the gem so I can see where you are at all times. It also had pieces of it that work like the suit in _Black Panther_. It can take in force and use it as a weapon. Remember, prototype, so it's not perfect yet."

"He kind of is the Shuri of our group." Kelly muttered to himself.

"I take great pride in that." Harrison responded, "You better get me a badass lab after this."

The trio just laughed.

OoOoO

Adrien woke up in the morning and saw Gabriel by his side. This wasn't right. He needed his father gone.

"Father?" Gabriel looked up as he spoke, "What happened? Where is everyone else?" Gabriel sighed,

"They went to support Zoe in the fight. Even fucking Elaine is fighting, Jesus Christ. At least she's playing a video game with Harrison that actually kills people. But how are you doing? You have a dangerously high fever, even for Fae."

"I've been better." Adrien smiled, and Gabriel smiled too—but it didn't reach his eyes—both wanted to discuss Plagg's death, but Adrien had a plan and if it worked, Plagg wouldn't be dead anymore. He just needed to get out of here to retrieve the body from the hospital in the Lanes Between. "Dad? Could you get me some soup?" Gabriel brightened and ran off—meaning he had taken his potion that day.

Adrien hopped out of bed and snuck through the empty base, seeing two massive armies standing on opposite sides of the field.

He snuck off the field and into his Gummi ship. He wasn't running away, on the contrary, he just had to grab Plagg's body, bring him back, and then they would both be fighting. It would be worth the hour or so wait.

At least, that's what he told himself.

OoOoO

Zoe, Eli, and Regina stood face to face, each floating ten feet above the ground. Zoe was using her magic to conceal her pregnancy, which apparently practically separated the babies from her body and put them in a void of the sort, while also coating her torso in indestructible armor. The perk of being pregnant during a war?

"Last chance to back down." Regina taunted. Zoe looked to Eli, and both gave her the finger,

"We're not gonna lose to _you_."

Regina scoffed, "Fair enough then." She snapped her fingers to her army of various monsters, and Anti-Dausi, while Zoe gave the signal to her army.

The final battle had begun.

**A/N: Last chance to review and save your favorites. **

**So for the final battle, because there are so many people, two characters are on a team, and there will be two teams per chapter, with Jared and Zoe's being last. Review to tell me which scenarios you want to see first. Also tell me who you want to see paired together. Zoe is paired with Eli.**

**And Anti-Dausi is the current main antagonist of _Of Other Worlds_.**


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to only one team because this is important.**

**Trigger warning of mention of previous self-harm and suicide attempt**

**Chapter 28: Gabriel and Adrien**

Emilie ran to Gabriel, "Gabriel!" He turned, "Ya?"

"Take care of the children!" He frowned,

"I'm bringing soup to Adrien, and Harrison is in a bunker with Elaine and Gavin so deep underground it's barely on this world. How he did that is _still_ a mystery to me." How Harrison did any of his computer genius was a mystery. Not like that was anywhere on his priority list right now.

Emilie nodded, activating her suit, "Good. Protect Adrien."

"Is that even a question?" She grabbed a machine gun and ran off to join the fight. Gabriel just sighed and walked into the hospital tent, only to find Adrien wasn't there. "ADRIEN?!"

"Yeah?" Gabriel sighed in relief, but then the wind was knocked out of him when he turned and saw Adrien in the doorway, holding Plagg's corpse gently in his arms as though the Fae boy was still alive. He set the dead body on one of the hospital beds, pulling out two vials of liquid, one glowing black and the other glowing red. He pulled out the grimoire and Gabriel had to ask,

"What are you doing?"

"While reading the grimoire last night, I found a way to bring Plagg back!" Gabriel gasped and threw the book out of his son's hands.

"No. Bad!" Adrien picked the book up with a resentful expression and Gabriel sucked in a breath, feeling the heat radiating off Adrien, the crazed look in his eyes. He had seen that look before, when he looked in the mirror three years prior. "Adrien…this won't work."

"You don't even know my plan."

"I can tell by the look in your eyes that grief and your dangerously high fever has clouded your judgement. Remember what Tikki said, Fae don't come back right."

"Says you!" Adrien snapped, "Just because I'll succeed where you didn't doesn't mean you have a right to stop me!" Gabriel grabbed Adrien's wrists,

"Adrien! Stop it!" Adrien squirmed under the iron grip, his Fae teeth becoming sharper and Gabriel knew they would cause permanent damage if Adrien decided to bite, "You sound like me! I am not going to let you go down the same path I did!" Adrien softened his struggles, looking his father in the eye,

"That's what you're worried about? Me being an evil villain? No. That's not gonna happen because I already have all the components here."

"You aren't a necromancer though…" Adrien glared,

"Look at my face, _Gabriel_. Does it look like I give two flying fucks? NOW GET OFF ME, YOU FUCKER!" The shock and pain of hearing that hatred in Adrien's voice made Gabriel let go. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to avoid the thousands of verbal knives that stabbed him.

"Fine." He choked out, his demeanor returning to stoic as it had been years prior, "You want to bring Plagg back, I won't stop you. But when the thing in his body turns out to not be Plagg, don't say I didn't warn you." Somehow, the emptiness in his voice managed to cut through to Adrien, who sat on the other bed.

"Don't you understand? It should have been me. I just need to make this right." Gabriel sat down beside him, putting a cold washcloth on his forehead,

"Don't say that, Adrien." He meant it with all his heart, but Adrien had just proved why he kept his emotions hidden—to avoid getting hurt—so now there was no emotion in his tone, but her allowed a little to break through, "Don't you ever say that."

Adrien held his head, "This has to work. It has to."

"Adrien…the best I can think of is Mandy from the _Rules of Supervillainy _series. She got turned into a vampire and didn't have her soul for a good long while. It wasn't her for a very long time until Death owed her husband a favor. Like Season 6 Sam if he got turned into a vampire. Not pretty. And then Tikki mentioned _Pet Semetery_, which would mean he's a zombie that goes on a killing spree and kills everyone he knows—which is probably an alarming number."

"I was going to turn him into a Darkling so his body was alive," Adrien said quietly, "like Mona did to the Demon Ladybug. Then I was going to use those two vials, which have samples of Tikki and Plagg's power, to perform the wish and get his soul back. There are so many people that are going to die, that there are plenty of souls to use as the sacrifice." He looked up and saw the stray tear that fell down his father's cheek, and he comprehended what he had said before. "Oh… I'm…I'm sorry. For what I said before."

Gabriel looked down, trying not to be petty, but that still hurt, bringing up rather bad memories.

"It's f-fine. You're upset, I get it." Gabriel looked up, "I just don't want to see you get hurt. Maybe talk to Joselyn about this when this mess is over. She's the necromancer. Maybe she can bring him back right. Besides, that's his body and soul, but what about his mind?"

"Then I'll trade myself." Gabriel gripped his shoulders tightly, ignore the wince of pain from his son,

"No. I _never_ want to hear you say that. Don't you even think it." He relaxed his grip and held out the soup Adrien had asked for, only to have it pushed away,

"I'm not hungry. Don't think I will be for awhile." Gabriel covered the corpse on the other side of the tent with a white cloth. But once his skin came in contact with Plagg's ice cold skin, he was flashed into a memory,

_"I'm not hungry…"_

Gabriel turned back to Adrien. The kid hadn't eaten in three days, there was no way he wasn't hungry…unless he had lost his appetite.

"Does your stomach hurt? Are you feeling nauseous? If not, then you really should eat."

"I'm not hungry." Adrien repeated, looking down, "I can't even think about eating." He started crying, looking over at the white sheet covering his dearest friend, "I should have saved him. Tried harder. Gotten to the hospital faster. Maybe he would still be alive…Regina offered to heal him in exchange for my compliance. We were captured anyway. I should have taken the deal…"

"And you can't change that now," Gabriel said, rubbing Adrien's back soothingly, "Thinking about it will…only…bring you regrets. Believe me, I know." He had thought about things many times, and still regretted his actions to Zoe.

Adrien started laugh-sobbing, as though that advice was depressingly funny, "I can't stop thinking about it! Every time I close my eyes, I see him bloody and dying or a vengeful spirit _because of me_! I would have sold myself to Regina for her to have saved him. I was so dumb! Had I known he would die without it, I would have taken the deal without hesitation!"

"Just like how he did it without hesitation to save you?" Adrien didn't seem to hear him, just sobbing into his father's shirt,

"Why couldn't I have just died from one of those akumas?! This wouldn't have happened! Why did you save me when I fell off that building!?"

Gabriel wanted to scream "No that's not true!" and maybe cry at how broken Adrien had become. Instead, he said this,

"You know…if you had saved him…there's a chance you might not have made it. Or dying by the akumas…Then Plagg would be in the same spot you are now." He did let himself cry, "And would you really want me to have the blood of my only son on my hands?" Adrien remained silent, but didn't deny that statement. Gabriel's heart broke, knowing the Adrien he had known was fading. He knew that losing Plagg was hard to his son. Unimaginably painful. He almost wished he had let him try bringing the cat-Fae back, but he knew that would have only led to more pain.

"I just don't know what to do anymore." Adrien said after a minute. He looked tired, emotionally drained, like he wanted to cry but was too tired to. His fever was still alarmingly high, but Gabriel could tell he was lucid.

"It's hard." He said eventually, "And it hurts. But he did what he did so you could live. He wouldn't want you to live in guilt and regret. I'm not asking you to get over it and stop mourning him just like," he snapped his fingers, "But you are here for a reason."

"What reason would that be?" Adrien asked, brushing a rouge strand of his bangs out of his eyes, "I'm not a model, and I can't be Chat Noir anymore. So what is my point of existing?"

"To be yourself." He cupped Adrien's cheek, making sure to strengthen the water shield he had around the tent to cancel out the sounds of the devastating war outside, "Bad things happen, you know that as well as I do, but we can't stop them. We can only choose to move forward." Yes, he was fully aware how ironic and hypocritical it was that _he,_ of all people, was giving Adrien this talk.

"But I can't move forward." Normally, they wouldn't be trying to give him this talk for a few weeks, but they had all read the passage in the grimoire that stated a kwami's death was dangerous for the wielder, especially in Adrien's shoes, where it was clear all sense of logic and reason was thrown out the window. Adrien started shaking. He wasn't crying, but he was vibrating, "I can't bear a life without Plagg. You became Hawk Moth when Mom got sick, and no matter how much I hated you for it, I would do it if it meant bringing Plagg back."

"I know how you feel." Maybe is wasn't a terrible idea to have him doing the comfort talking, "Though it may seem impossible right now, things will get better, if you let them." Adrien bowed his head,

"I can't…" He leaned in and Gabriel took the chance to hug him, while putting a cold washcloth on Adrien's forehead and the tips of his now-red Fae ears. "I need him…He was always there when I thought about…" Gabriel suspected he knew what about, but prayed he was wrong.

"I hope you'll let me and the others be there for you now." Adrien looked up,

"I don't know how. Three years I only trusted Plagg and Zoe, four for Plagg alone."

"Well, you now have me, your Mom, Zoe, Eli, Kelly, Harry, Marinette… and we all went through some shit. So we all have our own unique knowledge that can help if you let us—especially Kelly because he was in your shoes once."

"I'm so used to keeping all the big shit inside. I never dared tell Zoe about the dark thoughts, because her sob story tops mine all the way."

"That's not really true." Adrien raised a confused eyebrow as his father spoke, "And I am so sorry I made you do that. It's all _my_ fault you're used to hiding your emotions."

"Maybe." This was turning less into a discussion of grief, more like the talk they should have had years ago. "Maybe it was because I wanted to avoid being akumatized. Maybe I just wanted people to think I was fine. Plagg would groan and say 'Just go talk to your Dad. It is not hard. Open your mouth and unload all your shit.' But I can't do that."

"Well, I would say this is a good start. It's hard to tell others that you're not 'fine' yeah…I can understand that. Is there anything else I should know? We have time." They really didn't, but Adrien didn't need to know that, and they were safe in this given moment. Adrien sucked in a breath, as though he was about to reveal a deep dark secret…and he was.

"I self-harm. I started years ago and have a hard time stopping." Gabriel tried to prevent a scream from slipping out, but he did feel the tears start falling,

"O-Oh…"

"Plagg saved my life." Adrien admitted, sending a look to the white sheet again, "You and I got into an argument, a really bad one…I don't self-harm because I want to die, I was just desperate for an escape and went for my wrist, thinking that would be easy enough to hide by saying I sprained it during fencing. But I didn't know at the time that the wrist holds a critical artery, and I started bleeding out. Next thing I knew, I was in bed and Plagg was hovering over me with bandages. In hindsight, I think he had gone to Tikki or something, because it was already well on it's way to healing." He sighed, "That was about six months before Zoe arrived. I managed to go without cutting for a while, but once she befriended you and started falling harder for Eli, I was alone with the secret of your identity…I couldn't tell Marinette either. So I started up again."

He didn't notice Gabriel take off his shift, but didn't mind when he started placing wet washcloths on his back and stomach. But what the fashion designer was really looking at was the scars. There were so many of them, not as many as Zoe—but could anyone really top the amount of scars on Zoe? That girl barely had any unscarred skin on her. Gabriel could tell by looking at them that most were probably from akumas—and that _hurt_, knowing he had basically been the one to put these scars on the boy's body—but there were some on his upper shoulder, exactly where the sleeves of a tank top would go, that were too clean to be an accident, and there were more like that on his upper thighs, which would be hidden by boxers.

Adrien's eyes widened, and Gabriel guessed the fever was what made his so loose-mouthed, but now he realized exactly what he was revealing.

"Sorry. I know you didn't want to hear that. I'll stop now. That was too much." He turned to walk away, when Gabriel grabbed his hand.

"No…I-I needed to hear that. Adrien I was…a _terrible_ Dad to you…of course I already knew that, because Zoe doesn't hide that kind of shit, she's very blunt about it…but I really _really_ hurt you." He imagined if Plagg hadn't been there to save Adrien when he slit his wrist. Would it have been him or Natalie who found Adrien's cold dead body? Would it have been too late or would there still be a little life in him? He didn't want to think about that, and Plagg had his endless gratitude and respect.

Gabriel laughed bitterly, deciding to reveal a secret of his own. One he had been keeping hidden for thirty years.

"To think, I worked so hard, made you a model, so I could be sure people wouldn't be cruel and put you in this spot. But I was the one to do it." He took off his jacket and rolled up the sleeve of his creme colored sweater to reveal scars Adrien knew far too well.

Self-harm scars.

"Y-You did…" Gabriel nodded.

"I wanted things to be different for you." Adrien looked up from the scars,

"What made you stop?" Did he tell? He would. Adrien needed that.

"Two children."

_Gabriel was fifteen, standing on the edge of the bridge. There were heavy rocks in both of his zipped pockets. One step forward and he would plunge into the water and never come up._

_The last year had been rough. Ever since Nani—Jun—vanished, Gorilla was the only one to care for him and his brother, Victor. Victor was getting increasingly crueler, and so were kids at school. The only person that was nice to him was Natalie. Emilie was nice too, but she was the president of so many clubs she didn't have much time. Both were better off without him, they were going places._

_"You're worthless, Gabriel!" Victor had said earlier that day, "All you are is a burden on everyone around you! Maybe you should just kill yourself!" And Gabriel snapped. He had been trying to ask for help._

_He looked down at the water below. One step and it was over. One step and he was gone._

_So why was he hesitating? He didn't want to be 'saved', did he?_

_"Hey, what are you doing?" Gabriel's stomach plummeted, and turned to see two kids no older than twelve. One was a boy with dark hair and the more piercing sapphire eyes he had ever seen, and he had a strange cuff on his wrist. The other was a girl with short blonde hair and unnatural violet eyes, and she had an amulet around her neck. Both were wearing pajamas and seemed very interested in the scene before them._

_"Nothing…kids, where are your parents?"_

_"Mom is off on a date. Melainia is supposed to be watching us at her place, but she had a work call. So Kels and I decided to take a walk and here we are." The girl said. Were these two siblings? They looked nothing alike. The boy frowned, "You can't be doing 'nothing' so what are you doing?"_

_"Thinking." He said eventually._

_"About?" Couldn't these kids go away? _

_"Everything." _

_"Why do you need to think on that ledge?" The boy asked, "It's perfectly okay to think on the ground. You could fall."_

_Fall? He could fall. Not that it would change anything. Jump or fall, the result was the same._

_It was in that moment that the children seemed to understand. They got on the ledge with him and took his hands—probably because he had always been freakishly tall and that was before his growth spurt, so he was fifteen inches taller than these kids._

_"I can't say I know how you feel." The boy, Kels—which was probably a nickname, but that was the only identifier—looked sad, "Because not only do I not know you, I've never felt sad like you are right now." Gabriel almost shrieked when he noticed the girl's eyes were molten gold, then they went back to violet and she looked up,_

_"People care, they love you, and they want to support you. There's somebody and something in this world that is better because you're around. I know it might be hard to see, but it's there. You're important and you matter. If you could stick around for that, you'd be helping tremendously. Just because you've been in one place at one point doesn't mean you can't make an incredible life for yourself and help other people. Everybody's important and everybody matters. Just because you don't see it right now doesn't mean it's not true."_

_Gabriel was shaking, those words sunk in. He barely noticed the two children help him down from the ledge and just sobbed. Kels ran off and came back with Victor, who looked like he hadn't slept and had been running for hours,_

_"Gabriel!" Gabriel looked up and was crushed into a hug by his brother, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean what I said! I had a rough day and took it out on you." Victor looked at the two children, "Thank you both." He wrapped a blanket around his younger brother, "Come on Gabriel, let's get you home."_

_In the months that followed, Victor got him help. Recovery was very hard, and there were times when he started looking at the knives again. Therapy and medications were a bitch and they couldn't find a med that worked. But support was all he really needed._

_By the end of the year, he had become more confident and asked Emilie out on their first date._

_Gabriel never forgot those two children. He tried to find them again, because he never got to say "Thank you." But it turned out they had been visiting from New York. He pulled a few strings to get those names from the hotel log. The mother was Regina Blackwell, so the kids must be…_

_Kelly and Amelia Blackwell. Those were their names. _

_So when he met Kelly years later, only to realize he had been trying to kill the daughter of his savior, he didn't want to say anything. Besides, Kelly had been so young back then, would he even remember? Knowing Kelly now, if he remembered, he would have said something._

_He did regret never thanking Amelia before her death. From what he had seen, her son was a lot like her. So he would thank her by protecting Eli. Because her words stuck with him to this day, and they had helped him when he thought about the knives, even into his adulthood._

_There had been times where he wished he hadn't been saved, like Natalie's death or when Adrien was turned into a Darkling. But overall, he was eternally grateful to them. They were his second chance._

"Wow…" Adrien breathed, "Are you saying Kelly and Amelia saved you?!" Gabriel nodded.

"Yeah. They did." His son frowned, before smiling a little,

"Once this is over, thank him. Kelly forgets nothing, so he probably knows." Adrien put a finger up, "This fits. Thank Namine. Because come on, Kelly is the Namine of our group. Even a quote fits."

_"We will meet again. And then we can talk about everything. I may not know it's you, and you may not know it's me. But we will meet again. Someday soon. I promise!"_

"Oh damn." The power if pop-culture wins again. Gabriel sighed,

"I tried to protect you from the pain I felt—hell, that's a huge part of why I tried to bring your mother back in the first place—but in the process, I made you feel that pain. And for that I am deeply sorry."

Adrien hugged him, "I understand, Dad." He was still sad, that was obvious, and he shouldn't stop being sad. But maybe there was a small light at the end of the tunnel.

The moment was throughly ruined by Gabriel doubling over in pain, looking up with a look of terror,

"We'll continue this later, but for now, we need to run! There are things outside that are about to get in!" He got Adrien out of bed and opened a hatch under one of the beds, connecting to a large body of water. Zoe used her Worldbender powers to create a lake so Gabriel and Adrien could escape the tent from below. "Do you trust me?"

Adrien nodded, and Gabriel shoved him into the water, putting him in a bubble.

A minotaur burst into the tent, and Gabriel started jumping into the hatch when the creature sliced through his arm, creating a deep gash. The designer shrieked as he shifted into his Fae form and shoved the monster back, only to slip and hit his head on the hatch door.

Adrien screamed as his father slowly sunk into the water, bleeding and unconscious. "Dad?!"

But then something strange happened. Gabriel started glowing. His wound healed over completely, and he started getting younger, losing a good thirty years and he now looked no older than his early twenties. He also had a purple fish tail with blue details in place of his legs.

Adrien gasped as his father shifted into a Naiad.

The difference between a DemiFae Naiad and a pure Naiad was that normal Naiads were lesser Fae with immortal hearts, so they barely looked human, while DemiFae Naiads had a more merfolk-like appearance alongside their mortal heart.

"Wow." Adrien blinked as Gabriel woke up, "Maybe I did get some of my looks from you." His father actually was really attractive as a young adult. It was shocking, because he had never seen this in pictures.

Gabriel rolled his eyes, flicking his wrist to close the hatch above so the freak sand didn't get in.

"Okay, so my main plan is to keep you safe." He said, "But I guess I could pull a classic Naiad."

"I don't know what that means, but do that." Gabriel winked playfully and swam to the surface, grabbing a Wendigo and dragging it underground until the creature ceased it's flailing and drowned. "OH! FUCKING HELL!" Gabriel looked over,

"What? Naiads drown things. But that will take forever." He leapt into the air again, creating knives out of water and taking out a good hundred enemies.

"And you complain about Kelly being OP." Gabriel shrugged. Adrien giggled, feeling a tiny bit happy in the endless pain that had been the last few days, "You were hot when you were younger. What happened?"

"I worked myself to the bone to try giving you a happy and fortunate life. Stress ages you. But seriously, why do you think your mother even thought about giving me a chance?"

"The Miraculous tale."

"True."

And then blue and gold sand came crashing down. Gabriel yelped and the bubble swam away with him. Whatever that stuff was, it was strong enough to last in water.

Adrien felt the bubble pop and he noticed he had fins, as his hands and feet were webbed.

"GO!" Gabriel roared, distracting the sand. He tossed Adrien a gem of some sort and Adrien put on the mask, just like Gabriel did. Adrien leapt into the air and activated the gem.

The suit was just like his Chat Noir suit, only without the cat details. It reminded him of when he was Lingering Will.

"Hand sonic, version 1, activated." He yelped as two longswords came out of the wrist section, right next to his hands to the point they could be mistaken for his hands.

_"Sweet!"_ He heard Harrison's voice in his mask, from the ear section, _"The hand sonic works!"_

"Yeah. What exactly is it?"

_"Well, there are eight versions of it."_ Harrison said, _"And they are various weapons, except version 4, which Elaine designed."_

"Hand sonic, version 4!" Adrien tried it out and a gigantic titanium flower was brought into existence and impaled like fifteen enemies, then it reverted to version one, "You were saying?"

"Okay then. That's actually a really good observation, thanks."

"No problem?" Adrien glared up at the tower, where he could see Regina at the top. He also saw a being that had Jared's rough shape, fighting Anti-Dausi. So far so good.

He looked back to the lake, where he could see his father still fighting off the thing. Jared needed to hurry, because it was only a matter of time before Gabriel got exhausted.

He sliced through a ghoul like it was made of wet tissue paper, using his wind power to snap the necks of more enemies.

"I'll avenge you, Plagg."

**A/N: So that's the first part of the battle. More focused on Gabriel and Adrien, but this is a talk they desperately needed to have. And yes, Gabriel and Kelly met before all this shit.**

**Remember to review to save your favorites! And also to guess more pairings and who you want to see in the next chapter.**


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N: This is the end of the battle from most everyone's POV except Jared, Zoe and Eli, which will be in the next chapter.**

**Chapter 29: Kelly and Emilie, Joselyn, and one other**

Kelly wiped out more enemies with hand sonic version 5—claws—it felt right at home with his former use of the Lion Miraculous.

Emilie was fighting just behind him, using the powerful machine gun Harrison had made her.

"What the hell is this sand?" She asked, as Kelly cut through a monster of the sort.

"Don't ask me! I've never seen the stuff before. But I promised Harry I would try to get a sample. In hindsight, that was a suicidal promise." He turned and noticed some of the undead horrors with fighting with them. Joselyn must have used her necromancer powers.

Jared seemed to be doing fine as well from what he could see.

Then he noticed Eden. She had never been one for combat and was getting surrounded fairly quickly. Fighting off numbers like that would exhaust her. He turned to Emilie,

"Em…in case one of us dies in this, I need to tell you something." She turned, looking ready to object, but decided to let him talk,

"Yeah? Go ahead."

"I love you." And he transformed.

He wore a black and gold skintight suit. His suit was leather and had a faint fur texture along and had a gold colored mask around his eyes. His weapon was to be a bow and arrow.

Lionheart smiled to her and ran off to help Eden.

He had known he could do this, because he pretty much absorbed his kwami, but it was extremely dangerous and to use it plus his mind powers would lead to a burnout so severe he wasn't sure he would recover.

"King's Pride!" He slammed his foot into the ground and massive spiked boulders came out of nowhere and impaled the oncoming enemies. Then he ran with superhuman speed and used his claws to take out some more, leaping into the air and shooting one that had gotten close to Emilie in the eye.

His wrist where the cuff should have been started to flash. But he could hold out just a little longer. But if he did…

It was worth it. Completely.

He leapt into the air and released a massive shockwave of energy from his body, and then did a one-up and used his mind powers and took out another tremendous chunk of the opposing army.

A million enemies, a third of an evil army, taken out by one man.

But now he felt like he was burning alive.

"Help…"

He fell back down to the ground at a speed that would most certainly kill him without help.

"DAD?!"

"KELLY?!"

Eden transformed into Tenshi and flew up to catch him, shrieking in pain as he felt like fire. Emilie ran over, only to come to the same conclusion.

Kelly whimpered quietly, but he was barely awake.

A man came over. He had brown hair and black eyes, and was holding a broadsword. He flicked his wrist and sent the two women flying away, and his voice was that of Regina's,

"Oh Kelly, your hubris has finally caught up with you." Kelly looked up, supporting himself weakly with his arm,

"Hubris? I knew…this would happen…and accepted that…I'd call that sacrifice. And since I wiped out half of your army…I'd say it was a damn good one." He lost his grip and could barely face his attacker. Eden and Emilie pounded against the forcefield, trying to reach him. But Regina had more practice through this Darkling and Eden wasn't one for destruction.

The Darkling smirked and raised the broadsword, ready to end Kelly's life,

"You know why I asked that young demoness to keep you alive? So I could kill you myself!" But before the death blow could be served, a puff of dust appeared and a woman was between Kelly and the Darkling, blocking the broadsword with one of her own.

Her armor was mostly colored in shades of silver, black, grey and blue. Notable additions included a silver breastplate resembling an upside-down crescent moon and a dark-visored helmet which bore two silver prongs on either side wrapping around the sides and angling diagonally downwards. Her cape was a dusty-rose color.

"This is impossible!" The Darkling shrieked, "You fell to—" The woman pushed harder against the blade, her voice hoarse likely from misuse,

"Got you. Regina." The two fought with perfect form and matching the other completely.

Then a teenage boy joined the fight, and stabbed the darkling from behind, making the creature fall limp, and the boy gripped it by the throat as it turned into a faceless puppet,

"A puppet, soon to be an empty vessel." The boy said, "We've been waiting for a chance like this." The shield fell and Emilie and Eden ran to Kelly's side. The woman turned to the boy,

"Colin, I got to live, you never did. Take the vessel. I have my own way of seeing my grandkids already." Emilie looked between them,

"Who are you?" Colin dove into the vessel and the doll morphed into his image, and also took the clothes he had been wearing as a ghost. The woman smiled at him and removed her helmet, revealing herself as none other than Maeve Williams. Her long blonde hair cascaded past her shoulders. Eden gasped,

"Mother?"

"Not quite." Maeve replied, and Eden understood.

_Before heading to the Carpenter household, Regina decided to spend some time directly controlling her new Darkling. Maeve had a good body, she couldn't ignore that. No wonder Kelly had picked her._

_But then a wind picked up inside the dark tower and a suit of armor appeared. Regina gasped,_

_"__Your body submits, your soul succumbs, so why does you mind resist?!" The Lingering Will stood up,_

_"__You're not taking my body and ruining my daughters' lives without a hell of a fight from me." And so the two fought, but because the Lingering Will was new at being a suit of armor, Regina was able to fight back against the apparently expert swordswoman. Once she realized this was a fight she couldn't win, she vanished, teleporting to Maeve's car._

_The Lingering Will shriek as her rage deactivated. She fell back to her knees and waited for her rage to be awakened once more._

"You're her Lingering Will!" Eden beamed. Maeve nodded,

"Yes. And now that my task in complete, I have one final thing to ask you, Eden. Take care of your sisters. I'd ask Zoe, but she has her own kids to take care of." Eden nodded and the Lingering Will went up in sparkles. Colin was still looking himself over while Emilie was holding Kelly.

"He's burning up!" His fingertips were charcoal black we well. Colin ran over, stumbling more than a little.

"He hit a critical burnout." Colin said, and when Emilie sent him an incredulous look, he shrugged, "What? I've been a ghost for fifteen years, you learn things. The point is that he needs to get cold, fast, but we are in no place to do that. But he'll die without that. I'm not the one with the ice affinity though…"

"I can help!" Macy ran over, and placed a hand on Kelly's scorching forehead, creating an ice coffin of the sort, which was then covered by a forcefield from Colin.

And then the sand came, diving towards Colin—the only unprotected one of the group, having just come back from the dead. Macy shrieked, tossing off her mask off and putting it on her nephew's face, only for the sand to enter her mouth and rip her apart from the inside out.

Everyone screamed, and Macy placed one last message in Emilie's head,

_"__Tell Gabriel to take care of Gavin, and tell my son I love him."_

Colin started shaking, the gem of Macy's armor in his hand. He put it on, and cried to the heavens,

"O drakon, e male so ftengometta tesd'hup'anankes!"

A bronze dragon came from the sky and Colin jumped up onto it, roaring alongside the beast as though he had done this a hundred times before, and his armor shifted to that of dragon scales. The dragon sprayed fire and put up one hell of a fight with the sand, spinning and weaving to avoid being touched.

So Eli was a frostmage, Colin was a Dragonlord—kind of ironic seeing as he was burned alive as a baby—and Emilie could only imagine the power Gavin would have.

And then time went in slow motions and millions of lights, from the deceased and the villains, lit up the sky…Emilie was so relieved Kelly—still in the ice coffin regardless of Macy's death—wasn't the origin of any of those lights.

OoOoO

Joselyn was scared, so scared. People, her friends, were dying around her. At the beginning of the battle, Jared had grabbed her and tossed her into a small cavern in the cliffside, which had a window and was otherwise like a room like a princess in a tower. She had her mask on, and the sand didn't pay much attention to her. It hadn't seemed to realize she was in charge of the undead army.

She shook and cried in pure terror as the image of this war branded in her brain. This was gonna be some PTSD. She had gotten to finally meet her Dad, and she loved him to death, but the last few days had also been traumatic.

Molara ran over to her in the cavern,

"Sweetie, it's okay. It's all gonna be over soon."

"Lara…I'm scared…"

"I know. Just close your eyes." But the witch coming over caught the attention of the sand, which got into the crevice and grabbed Joselyn.

"NO!" Joselyn felt pain, until she was shielded in a vine bubble. Molara was screaming, cracks formed in her skin similar to when Jared used Totem Armor, but these ones spread and covered her body.

There was an explosion of light and the sand was repelled, but Molara was also gone. She had blown herself up to save Joselyn.

And that was what triggered Joselyn's ultimate form.

She threw her head back, throwing off her mask and all the souls of the monsters and the deceased entered her, and then there was an explosion of red light around her.

Heartless was extremely powerful, Tenshi too.

But that was nothing to Joselyn's power. With every soul she consumed, she took the powers and abilities and had a perfect mastery over them. Combine a witch's magic with a warrior's skills…

She was Death Incarnate.

Iku didn't have an ultimate transformation like her sisters. Her hair was very and flowed down her back, she was barefoot and the occasional vein was tainted green. She wore the same long-sleeved dirty white dress, only now she had a clay cat-mask over her face. A grey cat that was smiling. It was probably made by a child, but there was an aesthetic to it that made it terrifying.

The sisters, on a subconscious level, designed how they looked in their ultimate form, and Joselyn chose the undead Ellie Creed of the 2019 adaptation of _Pet Semetery_. As such, she could remove the mask if so desired.

Once she had absorbed all the souls, time resumed it's normal pace. She had so much power now…she didn't know what to do with it.

So, Iku decided to go run off to help Jared.

OoOoO

Marinette woke up in the hospital, tucked in a stiff yet warm bed. Her parents were sitting on the couch, or Tom was pacing while Sabine sat, tapping her foot on the floor.

What she registered after that was pain. Her stomach, her legs, especially her right hand. She looked down and saw she was covered in bandages.

"Mom? Dad?" Tom and Sabine shot upright and ran to her side,

"Marinette!" Marinette rubbed her head, looking at the wounds covering her body.

"Guys…I've got a headache…can you pass me that grimoire?" Tom took the small dusty book from Marinette's backpack and gave it to her.

"Ymbwlâtian me of mîn âbelgan, sîwian mîn brêostcearu." She glowed lightly and her wounds healed over, leaving nothing but scars. Well, at least she could enter the 'scars' competition.

It was a little banter competition brought on by Jared and Zoe, since they were both riddled with scars. Eli joined in when he had amnesia, because he too had some grueling scars. Adrien joined the race as well with the scars he had gotten from various akumas, including the hand-shaped white scar on his skin, marking when Timebreaker killed him—though why he had that was a mystery because she had gone back in time and saved him, Adrien said it was because Fae have the scars of every version, so he got it back when he became Fae. Alya was also in the race for some reason due to burning her arm while taking food out of the oven.

While Marinette didn't mind not joining in, she felt a little strange being the main heroine of Paris and not having the scars to show for it. So, now she did. They were rather bad too.

She did remember one other thing Regina did to her…but she decided to not think about the idea she was carrying Adrien's child. They weren't even married yet!

That was still the least of her problems, because the love of her life was fighting in a war, had a high fever, and the universe could end at any time.

She got out of bed, showing off her Ladybug grace. Ever since Hawk Moth was on their side, she had taken to playing the role of cop, because while the detectives actually did shit, the cops like Officer Roger did literally nothing. She was still bitter when Sabrina's Dad used her as a human shield against Silencer. But at least Zoe had gotten her voice back…

_Silencer had just taken Ladybug's voice, and was about to go after Bob Roth._

_Fireheart tapped the villain's shoulder,_

_"__Yo, I want to kill the fucker too, so how about you give Ladybug her voice back and we all go show that son of a bitch some karma?" Silencer stared at her for a second, and Fireheart linked their arms, then grabbing Mockingjay. Chat joined in too. _

_Silencer gave Ladybug her voice back as the group happily skipped off,_

"We're off to commit murder!"_ Anyone who saw this would be reminded of the movie adaptation of the _Wizard of Oz_, and the melody they sang matched that._

_Hawk Moth would have released the akumatization, but he actually wanted to see how this would go, so he had Natalie get him some popcorn and just watched, perfectly content._

_And so, Bob Roth was arrested, and Kitty Section got a record deal with a different record company._

Marinette rolled her eyes at the memory, slipping on her Kwagatama. Adrien's had allowed him to take Plagg's powers without being transformed. She knew that it was because he himself was Fae that it changed his appearance into something inhuman.

"Marinette, what are you doing?!" Sabine asked, panicked, "You were just severely injured!"

"I need to go help the others." She said, activating the power of the Kwagatama and she had the Ladybug suit.

Dr. Winston came in, officially off his vacation—because there was no point to a relaxing vacation when the family you are trying to avoid still finds you with a dying person—pursed his lips, and turned around.

"Marinette, I know you care about them," Tom said, "But you were in surgery for hours, and we still need to talk about…" he gestured to her stomach and Ladybug sighed,

"Tikki is out there, and so is Adrien. I can't sit back when I can help them." She held out her hand and purple lighting sparked on her fingertips, "I've been practicing witchcraft for a while." Since things had been peaceful, she had taken to reading all the books and learning all she could. So she was technically a witch.

Once her witch abilities activated, her suit transformed into a red dress and her eyes turned to pure glowing white orbs as her hair floated above her, and she teleported to the Dark Tower… Where she found thousands if not millions of Darklings.

She saw Adrien in a black suit and noticed he was using some sort of skill she had never seen before, as he backflipped and did the splits mid-air and made the faces of two Darklings cave in on themselves as he threw a knife into the heart of another.

That…was supremely badass.

There was also a thirty foot demon monster beating the fuck out of some sand bitch, but since it seemed Camille was assisting him, she left him be.

There was also a kid riding a dragon.

So she decided to deal with the monsters first, noticing some were branding with the Recrusent Sigil while others weren't.

She blasted those ones with purple lightening, and it got Adrien's attention,

"Marinette?!" He ran over, kicking an undead witch in the face and taking her mask, placing it on his girlfriend, "It protects you from Anti-Dausi's sand. Most of the witches are performed the Yielding, and Joselyn activated her powers by eating the souls of everyone against us or dead. So she's OP as fuck now, and is that little demon child over there. Her alternate name is Iku." Ladybug turned and saw the child in a creepy cat mask, who flicked her wrist and obliterated a good dozen enemies in front of her, before vanishing into a tornado and decimating even more enemies. Jesus Christ, Kelly spawned powerful kids.

And then…things stopped. The sand burst into flames and disintegrated, and the Darklings dropped dead. The thirty foot monster was replaced by Jared transformed, Fireclaw, who seemed perfectly happy to look at all the carnage he had been allowed to cause, until he was grabbed by enchanted ropes and flung to the top of the tower.

There was an explosion, and then silence.

Tenshi changed back to Eden, "Wha…What just happened?"

"JARED?!" Camille shrieked.

The team—or those able to—ran to the top of the tower and saw that Zoe, Eli and Regina were gone, and somehow Jared got taken with them.

"The final showdown." Iku said, removing her mask to reveal she had a corpse-like appearance to her, "It's victory, or oblivion."

"Where's Kelly?" Marinette asked, a little bitter she hadn't done much.

"I've got him." Gabriel said. His forehead had a deep laceration and there was a fresh scar on his arm. He also looked thirty years younger, and he was _walking_! He was dragging Kelly, who hadn't woken up, and the burned skin had spread from his fingertips to the entirety of his hands.

Melanie, the sole survivor of the Blackwell witches—the sick one, Colin's mother—walked over,

"Come on, we need to treat him fast."

"Mama?" Colin looked at her, and Melanie gasped, looking at her long-lost son,

"C-Colin…?" She sobbed, hugging him, "I'm so sorry…"

"I-It's okay…she found you, like she promised…"

Emilie coughed to get their attentions, "Guys, Kelly is dying. We can celebrate later." Eden placed her forehead on Melanie's forehead and the witch became much healthier, and had a new height to her. She looked like she had more energy to be frantic,

"Let's go save him."

**A/N: Iku means Death in the African language Yoruba. Review if you want Kelly to live, because I killed all the Blackwell witches except Mara (whose fate is currently undecided) and Regina, and Melanie.**

**Only the next chapter, battle aftermath, final chapter, and the epilogue. D: This story has gone by so fast! ... Fortunately we have not one but two sequels! Two Worlds, One Family; and the prequel, Another's Beginning. **

**Also, Christi and I are gonna start little thing where you guys review what you want to see from certain character's POV and we provide a one-shot. For example, the night Zoe and Eli met from Eli's POV. Or the progression of Eloe from Adrien's POV. We might be doing a little series about every time the crew ends up in the hospital from Poor Dr. Winston's POV.**

**And in the next chapter, I will explain what the hell 358/2 Potion Hell means. Go look it up if you don't know, but it will be explained.**


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N: Most popular One-Shot requests -**

**"Helpless" - The night Zoe and Eli met from Eli's POV**

**Eloe from Adrien's POV**

**Dr. Winston's POV**

**What the hell Dausi and Connor were doing in their time away**

**For some reason, people are also asking me to write a smut fic of when Zoe and Eli conceived the twins. Um… I'm not good at that kind of thing. But maybe? **

**…**

**Chapter 30: The Final Showdown**

**(Aka Regina screaming "Fools, this even my final form!" like five times, Jared beating the shit outta Anti-Dausi, and Eli explaining the context of Potion Hell which actually scares some people)**

Now, most people would be extremely stressed out if they were told the fate of the multiverse rested on their shoulders.

Most people did not include Jared Brock.

For the most part, he ignored the people stressing to him that he had to win. He had been doing this shit long before he got dragged into this mess. Defeated an unkillable demon was just a step up from his daily routine back on his world. Not like the Winchesters wouldn't manage to do it.

What he didn't tell anyone, was that he snuck out of his tent and left the world with Camille. They went back to the Barbie-based world because they both hated that place and didn't care if it got blown up. Camille used her powers and sparred with him, helping him master these powers instead of going in hopelessly blind on how to use them.

He took it easy on her, because while she was extremely powerful—which made Jared wonder how powerful Eli was if Regina was only afraid of him—with the combined powers of the Bear and the Dragon, he was stronger. Regardless, she was surprisingly capable of holding her own.

He didn't want to think about the idea he had feelings for her that were stronger than friendship, Zoe would never let him live it down.

He also had taken Joselyn with him to spar. She had been pretending to be asleep, but she had actually been crying. He had gone to see what was going on with the whimpering child as he left, and saw her shaking, she small shoulders wracked with sobs. She looked up at him and apologized for waking him. When he asked what was wrong, she tried to remain quiet but eventually revealed she didn't want to lose her new family, something Jared himself could relate to.

In this little girl, he saw himself at her age. Her innocence had been tainted beyond repair, but she still had a tiny bit of hope it was all a bad dream. So he took her with him and Cam for some dinner that didn't involve zombie flesh—though it was just McDonald's, and Jared did wonder what kind of childhood this kid had if she hadn't been into that particular fast food place—and then they went to spar.

In the Gummi Impala—to avoid the switching between the Impala and Gummi Ship—the three of them had listened to metal music, and it was shocking that Joselyn liked it. When she had asked to choose music, he was afraid he would be stuck with Princess music but ended up listening to one of his favorite songs. Joselyn had just giggled at his dumbfounded expression and revealed she liked that song.

They did practice basic combat with her, but while she was a fast learner, she was too young to be able to handle herself alone in a war. She was definitely the 'oddball' of the three sisters, not having any real combat-helpful skills and having a completely different taste in music, but Jared liked her that way. Though she was really good with karate, saying she had eaten the soul of her old instructor because he was a prick. Admittedly, Jared couldn't say he would do anything differently if in her shoes.

And so, he vowed he would keep her safe. And when this was over, he'd take her somewhere with all the junk food and metal music she could handle and teach her how to properly fight.

The battle started as he was simply Goreclaw, grabbing Joselyn and sticking her in a hole he punched into the cliff wall, so she was safe. Now that he didn't need to worry about her, he went after Anti-Dausi.

Camille ran next to him, "I'm coming with you."

"I need to do this on my own."

"You need to fight _Anti-Dausi_ alone, but Regina's army doubles ours, you could easily get surrounded and overwhelmed."

Goreclaw huffed, "Just don't put yourself in a situation where I have to stop fighting to save you."

"Says the guy I saved from the death acid." Goreclaw refused to admit she had a point there.

He slipped on the Dragon Miraculous but didn't activate it yet. He needed to make it to his target before doing that. These other enemies meant nothing to him, so he cut through them like butter, very much enjoying the killing.

It only took five minutes to get across the gigantic battlefield. The sand was everywhere, but it was originating from this point.

Blazze had been running by his side with Camille, using her Dragon Flame to take out more enemies. Regina had the quantity, but Team Free Will—that was what Jared was calling their team and nobody was going to tell him otherwise—had quality. They had a tenth of the numbers, but those number consisted of two hundred witches, one OP mind mage, a shapeshifter, a Naiad, two Worldbenders, one indestructible warlock, said warlock's sister, a dozen Fae—one of which was pissed beyond belief—and they had him.

He waited until Anti-Dausi had noticed him and enveloped him in the sand to transform completely,

"Blazze, merge!"

There was an explosion as Fireclaw came into being, and he took out a good chunk of the sand in the process.

Anti-Dausi looked a tiny bit panicked as Fireclaw summoned two Hellblades, four foot long flaming swords, and went on the offensive. Anti-Dausi summoned a ton of weapons, wielding a large hammer—which was kind of ironic once Jared got some context because Zoe had smashed a version of Dausi with a large hammer.

The fight was well matched, both landing numerous hits on each other. Fireclaw made sure to change up his style from time to time, switching between the Hellblades and a Flame Jet, which boiled down to spraying fire everywhere, to avoid becoming predictable and giving Anti-Dausi an opening.

Camille was being very helpful in keeping the monsters off him while he was busy dealing with Anti-Dausi, but he could tell the exact moment she started to give in to fatigue.

"Cam, get out of here!" He ordered, backhanding Anti-Dausi in the face so she wouldn't go anywhere near Camille. He sent a Flame Jet at some of the sand, "You can't keep going like this!"

"I can't leave you here!"

"Yeah, you can!" Camille sent him a fearful look, but she eventually nodded and ran off, cartwheeling past some zombies expertly.

"Oh." Anti-Dausi taunted, taking the minor distraction to her advantage, "Does she mean that much to you?"

"Keep her out of this. Just you and me right now." Anti-Dausi seemed to consider this as she blocked another blow. Please note they were talking while battling to the death with a war surrounding them. The only reason they could hear each other was because they were shouting and also floating fifty feet in the air. Fireclaw could see explosions of all colors and intensities below them, but that wasn't his focus right now.

It felt like a while when it was probably only a few seconds before Anti-Dausi smirked that stereotypical villain smirk,

"Nah." More sand came from her being and flew down to the battlefield, "I'm in this for the killing. The Worldkiller is the icing on the cake. I'll be nice enough to not go directly after your girlfriend, but that doesn't mean she won't die." Fireclaw roared and attacked with more ferocity than before, which just earned a malicious chuckle from the demon creature,

"You're foolish. Using your powers as forcefully as you are, you're sure to sap away all of your energy. And then I'll let you watch as your new little family is torn limb from limb, just like that I'll make that heartbroken Fae boy watch."

"Adrien?" He grunted in pain as she got a blow to his upper left leg, likely snapping the femur; not that it mattered right now with him flying, though that didn't stop it from hurting like a bitch. Anti-Dausi shrugged,

"I feed on fear and that boy shows potential to be one of the best beings I have fed off of. Gotta keep a snack around." Fireclaw growled and switched back to the Hellblades, slicing her cheek and giving her a mark that matched Zoe's scar, and would become an identical scar.

It was around this moment that Fireclaw realized Anti-Dausi was right about him sapping his energy. It wouldn't affect his fighting too much, he just needed to go on defense for a little bit.

That was a massive error in judgment.

Once Anti-Dausi realized he was getting tired, she laughed darkly and sent Fireclaw spiraling through his darkest memories. His parents...friends...

They were on the ground now, and Fireclaw didn't notice Kelly wipe out a third of the army, clutching his head and trying to break free. But Anti-Dausi wasn't done.

He found himself on the same battlefield he had been fighting on, but something was horribly wrong.

All of his friends were gone.

The only sound that could be heard was the wind. He counted the bodies. Emilie... Kelly... Gabriel... Marinette... Adrien... all the kwamis... C-Camille... everyone... gone. He had to hold back a scream when he found his version of Kagami and Gina in the mix as well.

He looked around some more. For the life of him, he couldn't find Eli or the three Carpenter sisters. Joselyn. He had only known her a few hours, so why did he prioritize her so much?

"Looking for me?" Jared turned, then pulled out a knife,

"What the hell are you?" The little girl had Joselyn's basic appearance, but she looked like a corpse. She wore the same dirty white dress, and in her hand was the creepiest cat mask Jared had ever seen. She looked like Joselyn but also had a much darker aura to her.

"Joselyn. Or I guess you would call me Iku. I'm Joselyn's other, better, half. I let her have the reins, but every now and then I should have my fun." Iku looked around at the bloodshed, "And look at all the souls I got to feast on. Naturally, I became more powerful than Death himself. So you're cute to think your knife can hurt me." Jared lowered the knife,

"What is this? This has to be a nightmare of some sort." Iku blinked, then shrugged,

"You could call it that. You could also call it the future if you don't wake up."

Jared put his hands on his hips, noting he had schorch marks on his wrist much like Kelly's, only there was a bear instead of a lion, and he had more on his neck, this one themed like a dragon. Viirus... Blazze...

"What happened here? Where are Zoe, Eli, and Eden? And why is it just you?" Iku looked around,

"If you don't wake up, Anti-Dausi...the Entity, as I call her... kills everyone except the Worldbenders and Eli. Well, Kelly would have lived if the gull hadn't burned himself out as he did." Iku chuckled at her humor while Jared narrowed his eyes,

"Can you get on with is sometime this year?" He asked bitterly, "Because something tells me I have to listen to you to get out of here." Iku nodded at that,

"Fine. To summarize, Eli and Zoe survived because Regina sent them into the Realm Between, where they later got banished to the Realm of Darkness, never to return. Eden went looking for them, as she survived due to her immortality, but she used such dangerous magic and traveled through the Blind Eternities unprotected. Eventually, such reckless behavior made her blink from existence. There is still the memory, but she as a person ceased to be."

"Blind Eternities? Don't you mean the Lanes Between?" Iku huffed,

"Seriously? Do I have to be your damn Chirithy here?" Since Jared didn't get that reference, she clarified, "Your spirit guide who wakes you up and answers questions." Jared then nodded, and Iku started pacing, stepping over Emilie's corpse,

"Okay. So for starters, Joselyn is using my power right now so we can talk for a couple hours before a minute passes in real time. As to your question, the Blind Eternities is like the freeway at rush hour while the Lanes Between is the sidewalk. An unprotected traveler is a biker. Basically, the Blind Eternities is a faster but much more dangerous route, and those ships you use aren't designed for that. A larger ship would be, but not those small things."

"That makes sense, I guess...So how do I get out of here?" Iku shrugged,

"How would you get out of a nightmare?" Jared pinched himself and she face-palmed, "No, dumbass! You need a DreamWalker, or DreamEater, depending on what you call it. Most domestic pets are DreamEaters, and that's why small children use them as nightmare buddies. However, to get out of this, you either need to fight like hell or have a DreamWalker wake you up."

"I take it Kelly is a DreamWalker."

"Yeah. He played the role of DreamEater for Zoe whenever he could. She had nightmares every night. Her kitten, Merlin, helped too, but Kelly was the expert. Normally, he would be the one talking to you right now, except he really did burn himself out brutally."

"Oh, lovely. So what do I do then?" Iku narrowed her eyes,

"Idiot. I'm a DreamWalker, otherwise, we wouldn't be talking!"

"Oh. Why didn't you just start with that?!" Iku clenched her fists, but relaxed after a moment,

"Follow Joselyn's voice. Focus on her and only her, no not in a creepy way, get that thought out of your head. Unless you want this," she gestured to the death around her, "To be your reality."

"Um..." he frowned, but what did he really have to lose from this? "Okay?" He shut his eyes, trying to cancel out the sounds and sights that screamed he had just lost everything. "Joselyn...where are you?"

_"Jared!"_ That voice. That tiny voice, _"Don't chase the dreams, they'll lead you nowhere! Just to an abyss you can never wake up from!"_

Unless Iku had been a dream, Jared had no plans of chasing these dreams, so he didn't have a problem with taking her advice.

He snapped awake in reality, with Anti-Dausi swinging a hammer down at him,

"DRAGON'S FURY!" He transformed again, this time into a thirty-foot demon. He got up and Anti-Dausi jumped back in surprise,

"How did you-?!" Rioter smirked in response. He turned and was startled to see Iku staring back at him from below, this time wearing that terrifying mask. But there was a more human feel to her, and he could tell it was Joselyn behind the wheel and not Iku. He turned back to Anti-Dausi, "Entertain me."

He summoned the Hellblades again, only this time, the blades were massive scythes, each blade attached to one end of the handle and facing opposite directions.

And so, the duel began again, this time having Joselyn-Iku-thing as his backup. And she was kicking ass. Maybe it was that she ate the souls of most of the now-Darkling monsters she was fighting that made it so easy for her. He made a mental note to test her fighting skills again now that she'd gotten a good feed in.

The fight was quite easy now, with Rioter smacking Anti-Dausi around like a ping-pong ball at moments.

He knocked her into the air and flew up to meet her, "Careful, I'm getting bored." And then he just started shredding the bitch.

When Kelly had told them they would be fighting an ultimate demon lady, his expectations had been very raised. But once he shifted into his own demon form, this was stupidly easy. So easy in fact that it was insulting almost. Then again, this had been much harder before.

Anti-Dausi shrieked one more time, before being silenced forever. The sand burst into flames and vanished. Rioter turned back into Fireclaw and he looked down to see who was hurt. Kelly seemed to be in some sort of ice version of Snow White's coffin—though seriously? First, he's the magic mirror and now he's the princess? Otherwise, nobody seemed hurt.

"Yay!" He smiled a little when he heard Joselyn shout, bouncing on her heels a little and grinning, having removed the mask.

He was about to float down when he felt a burning rope around his midsection and he was flung backwards into the tower and into a dark portal.

While that was happening

Zoe and Eli ran together, cutting down monsters in perfect synch as they ran up the tower. It had taken forever to get up there, but it was very much worth it.

Overall, it wasn't hard to make their way to the top, where they saw Regina and...

"Mara." Eli glared, holding out his sword, Goldryn, out in front of the witch.

Mara turned, and gasped, "How is this possible?! I banished you to Potion Hell!" Regina and Zoe just let this encounter happen, and it felt like something out of a comedy, as though the battle froze so they could have this conversation. Zoe brought some popcorn into existence as Eli smirked,

"Joke's on you, bitch! In my time with the Organization, I became the Potion Gathering King! Potion Hell means nothing to me!"

"Um... Context please?" Regina asked, and Zoe almost choked on her popcorn at how casual this had suddenly become,

"Let's start from the beginning with this..."

_Eli woke up in a plain white castle, very disoriented. He looked down and noticed he was wearing a long black coat—like, reached his ankles—black pants, and black boots. Was he emo or something?_

_He then registered the seashells surrounding is bed. And then Zoe, who was wearing a feminine version of the coat he himself was wearing. She had a cute pixie cut as well. He tapped her, and she shot up,_

_"Eli! You're awake!" She hugged him, "Han and I have missed you so much. And missions have been a lot harder too." Eli rubbed his head. What the hell kind of coma dream was this?_

_"Number XIII, you're awake." Eli froze. That voice… _

_He turned slowly and saw Douglas in the doorway, with an X-shaped scar in the center of his face. He too was wearing the black coat,_

_"Oh, and now that you're awake, maybe you'll finally buy something from my T-shirt line." What?! What the hell was happening!?_

_Zoe groaned, "Doug, nobody is gonna buy your crappy t-shirts. Yes, I know, we are Nobodies, so I should say that we nor any somebody is gonna buy the t-shirt. The only reason Mara got one was because you two are banging each other."_

_"Silence, puppet! The only reason you got promoted to actually being in the Organization is because we suffered losses after Castle Oblivion." Zoe gave him the finger, and Hana came in. She was also wearing the coat, and she also had two symbols under her eyes._

_"Eli!" She hugged him, but Eli was trying to piece together what the fuck was going on._

_Black coats. XIII. Castle Oblivion. Missions. No…_

_He was in_ Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, _on crack it seemed because that t-shirt thing came out of nowhere._

_If Mara was gonna banish him to any video game, this would be the one. The gameplay sucked, and you only find fucking potions no matter where you go and it drives the player insane. There's even fan art about it._

_It seemed Zoe was playing the role of Xion, so he had to get out of here before she commit suicide by tricking him into killing her in self-defense._

_He didn't know how to get out of this, but maybe the missions held a clue?_

_And so, for 93 days, he went on the missions, and got nowhere. The only thing he got out of it was that in the end of the day, he had a hundred potions in his bag, and then he needed to come do paperwork._

_By the 93rd day, his room was covered in potions. They were in the dressers, the bathroom, covering the floor. And the other Organization members—who seem to have been replaced with people he knew as he'd seem Kelly in the window at the Twilight Town mansion, drawing peacefully._

_He looked around at the potions, and screamed into his pillow. If Mara was trying to drive him insane with potions alone, she was doing quite a good job of it._

_And so, he sat down, not allowing the bitch to win, and drank every last potion. They tasted like and had the consistency of flavored water, so it wasn't hard._

_Do that math. 93 days, a hundred potions each day. That was at least 9,300 potions. He felt like he had acceded to the next level by doing this, because he could feel his health bar have no idea what to do with the potion overload, and after another three days, he realized he could no longer take damage._

_As such, some of the other Organization members dubbed him the Potion Gathering King, and he was given much respect in the week of time in the Organization before being sucked into the real world._

_He would not miss that place, and if he ever ate sea salt ice cream again, it would be too soon. Yeah, he, Han and Zoe seemed to have no idea that other flavors were a thing. So a hundred days eating nothing but sea salt ice cream…and somehow none of them gained any weight._

Mara's eyes widened, "This cannot be!" She threw her hands up, "Mother! Eli has transcended reality, our grand plan has already failed!" Zoe turned to Eli,

"Eli, when this is over, I am going to make out with you." Eli winked, smirking. He turned back to Mara—who still only had half a face as the other half was horrifically scarred,

"I drank so many potions I can no longer take damage!" Mara turned to Regina,

"Mother, please don't make me fight…it…" Eli cracked his knuckles,

"Well, gotta flex on someone."

"Do you two foolish kids think you can beat me?" Regina asked tauntingly, "I have a death goddess on my side and have shamelessly killed by own siblings, I will win this battle."

They were interrupted by a loud roar and saw a demon creature change back into Fireclaw. The sand was burning and blinking out of existence as well.

Zoe wondered why the hell she had lost sleep over worrying about him. That was really fast.

Regina blanched, and Zoe turned with a wry smirk on with face, "You were saying?" The witch growled and clenched her fist, summoning glowing red ropes that wrapped around Eli, Zoe, and Fireclaw, pulling them down into a dark portal.

OoOoO

The three of them woke up on the pavement. Fireclaw was the first one awake, rubbing his head. He shook Zoe and Eli, earning a groan from the two as they sat up.

"Where the hell are we?" Zoe asked after a moment, "Shibuya?"

"Do you mean 'The World Ends With You' version of Shibuya or the actual location in Japan?" Eli asked, and Zoe just shrugged.

"Either way." She looked up at Fireclaw, "Good going with Anti-Dausi."

"Thanks." They were interrupted very rudely by a building being flung at them. Eli shielded the two, and the building broke upon contact with him, instead of him being dead. He just shrugged, pointing to a flying building-thing about a mile away,

"I would bet you anything they're up there." The other two nodded, and Zoe got an idea, jumping onto one of the buildings being chucked at them and ran up it, using them like stairs while breaking the laws of physics. Fireclaw and Eli followed her,

While they ran, Fireclaw implemented his Totem Armor in tandem with his Fireclaw form. Instead of all of the fire or the green light, all of the cracks were a dark crimson red, along with his swords and eyes.

He sped past Zoe and jumped into the air, slicing the building clean in half, which stopped the gigantic laser that had been about to shoot at them. Zoe and Eli gawked for a moment before there was a bright light and a metallic dragon started flying away.

The robot dragon roared, and it made the buildings that were still standing quake. Zoe noticed a little flying jet-ski of the sort. She hopped on with Eli and then saw the extra little platform on it. Perfect.

"Jared!" She yelled, "Hop on!"

Fireclaw hopped onto it, "There aren't even any railings on this thing, how am I staying on?" He narrowed his eyes, "If you let me slide off, Zoe, I am never going to forgive you."

"That's the least of our problems." Eli pointed out, "They're running away from us. We can't destroy the dragon yet because then they'll run again. Zoe, can you get to the front?" Zoe nodded, ignoring the cramping feeling in her stomach. Her magic still hid the pregnancy, but she could feel everything nonetheless.

Fireclaw took to flying beside them to allow the little jet-ski ship to gain more speed. He cut at the dragon occasionally, to slow it down, until the trio landed inside the large head, which was actually a room.

Both Mara and Regina were in thrones, wearing armor that was way too large for them and was wielding even larger swords.

When they landed, the jet-ski ship got sucked into a black hole,

"No!" Zoe muttered with a bit of sarcasm, "I stole that! That was my jet-ski ship!" Neither witch said a word. Regina remained sitting in her throne as Mara got up and started attacking, which was blocked by Fireclaw,

"I know who you are, bitch." Blazze and Viirus must have told him; otherwise, that would make no sense. Fireclaw started fighting with more strength and focus than the two had seen.

While he did that, they went for Regina. She didn't seem to be doing much... until they got close, in which she swung her giant sword and sent Eli flying off the robot dragon and into the black hole,

"ELI!" Zoe shrieked, but then there was an explosion and Eli was floating where the black hole was, his eyes glowing pure white, and he had a red glow. He threw out his hand,

"Zettaflare!"

So here was Zettaflare in perspective. Even the most powerful version of Bahaumat using his ultimate attack had never gone past Exaflare. That spell can already obliterate the moon, and Zettaflare was a step up. The one time this spell had been used before, in _Bravely Default_, even the final boss casting it needed assistance from a literal God of Destruction to pull it off. And Eli could perform this spell _unassisted._

Eli Sommers was canonically the most powerful mage in the history of pop-culture.

No wonder Regina was scared of him.

How the hell had those runes been able to bind him?

The fire blast was mixed with Eli's ice and flew at Regina, breaking the armor completely and burning her face pretty badly. It also sent the dragon ship crashing to the ground.

At this point, Fireclaw had done quite the number on Mara, when a blast made them all cover their eyes, as Mara shifted into a gigantic creature on the ground of the city. Regina was nowhere to be found.

"Jared?" Fireclaw turned and looked down at where Zoe had taken his hand, in a totally platonic way, "You're doing okay, right? Because I know this drains you and becomes dangerous." He nodded,

"I'm okay. For now, let's go kill this beast."

Fireclaw flew off, and Zoe turned to Eli, who was using Goldryn for support.

"Eli?" Eli looked up,

"Zettaflare took a lot out of me," Eli said after a moment of catching his breath, "And it didn't even kill the bitch." Zoe helped him,

"Come on, we still needed to kill the witches. I refuse to let Jared be the one to win our fight because he will never let me live it down. Killing Anti-Dausi is already going to inflate his ego."

"What exactly is your relationship with Jared?" Zoe rolled her eyes,

"Depends which version of me you ask. Come on Eli, I married you and am currently heavily pregnant with your spawn. Why would I go for Jared?" Eli huffed,

"I didn't mean like that, you just seem uncharacteristically worried about him."

"He's my friend, I'll admit that. Kind of like an older brother, I know Joselyn sees him like that. Besides, I do feel bad for dragging him into this mess. At least he enjoys killing things. Personally, I have had enough of Mara for a lifetime, so I am perfectly happy to let him beat the shit out of her."

They then noticed the city blur around them, and they were almost in space, right in front of the universe's most terrifying cruise ship.

Fireclaw was next to them,

"Guys... I need you to take over. The combination of the worldkiller and the amount of power I'd have to pull from the worldsoul would actually kill me." He looked to Zoe, "For once, I'm relieved to have someone to call upon to take my place." Zoe grinned, turning into Heartless,

"Okay guys, my turn to shine." She turned her hands into blades and flew at the giant ship, annihilating the thing and beating the boat out of Regina by phasing with her body and her sword cu through from every angle until it was in a thousand pieces.

"Why the hell did Regina think she could win fighting against all three of us?" Jared asked, now changed back. Zoe shrugged, and Eli just shook his head.

And then they were in a place that was white and different shades of grey, never getting super dark though. It seemed to be a bubble almost, with a grey chain-like pattern surrounding it.

Regina and Mara were floating in front of them, both wearing black robes,

"Heroes of the Realm of Light," Regina taunted, "You've made it this far, but this is where you're finished!"

Mara released chains from her hands, and Zoe dodged, while Eli just took the blow, breaking them with his bare hands. He knew how powerful he was, and was not at all afraid to show it.

Shockingly, even without powers, Jared was doing really well. He was sword fighting the whole time against Mara—because he seemed to appreciate that Regina was gonna be Zoe and Eli's kill—using flawless form and was fast and agile enough that both Worldbender and Warlock were shocked at how someone that size can move like that, as well as the occasional energy blast for a knockdown blow, but always gave the lethal blow with a sword.

Zoe and Eli decided to leave him to that and tag-teamed it against Regina, who blocked them with electric beams coming out of her palms.

"We shall go together."

"What?" Zoe chuckled, "Fat chance." She shifted into Heartless and took a deep bite out of Regina's arm, which she spat out because her grandmother-in-law left a bitter taste in her mouth. Regina growled,

"You want to fight dirty? I'll gladly fight dirty." She threw her hand out to the side, and trapped Jared in a bubble of some sort, being shocked by electricity.

"Jared!" Eli took on Mara while Zoe ran at Regina from where she had flown away, grabbing the sparking hand with her bare fist, snapping Regina's wrist and allowed Jared to fall to the ground, where Mara ran away from Eli and placed enchanted chains on Jared's wrists.

Mara smirked at Jared's unconscious form, climbing on top of him to grab the two Miraculouses he was wearing.

The sound of a record scratch filled the monochromatic painting they were in,

Zoe was the one responsible for that, "Woah! Woah! Woah!" Eli had covered his ears,

"Oh good grief, do we have to have a record scratch in the middle of a battle? I am shaken, badly."

Zoe gestured to the scene before her, "Let's dissect what's happening here."

Eli's eyes widened, observing it himself, "Let's not do that, actually." Zoe ignored her mate,

"A woman, who appears to be in her... mid-twenties?...has chained up a seventeen-year-old, knocked him over, climbed on top of him, and is now about to _forcibly remove_ something that he's wearing."

"I mean...the age of consent in France is fifteen..." Everyone knew that Eli immediately regretted those words when they came out of his mouth.

"I don't think consent has anything to do with this," Zoe said, and she also noted Regina had an expression that questioned why she was judging if she wasn't going to help her friend, "Excuse me, I need a glass of brain bleach."

"What is the point of this?" Regina asked, "She's grabbing the Miraculouses, not rape him!"

"You never know actually, and I'm done putting up with your shit, Mara." Eli responded, and proceeded to clench his fist.

Mara shrieked in pain, and clutched her chest,

"What...what are you doing to me?" Eli bent down to face her while Zoe kept Regina back with a sharp kick to the tit.

"The same thing you did to me." He replied, with a darkness in his tone that Zoe had never seen, and it kind of scared her,

"Don't worry," he taunted, "It will all be over soon," Mara screamed in pain as Eli shattered her soul, then proceeded to destroy every last piece."

"MARA!" Regina shrieked, a newfound rage apparent, "You'll pay for that!" She flew up as everything turned black, sending bright purple lasers down at them in an orb that had them completely surrounded.

Zoe and Eli got out their swords, Excalibur and Goldryn, and expertly flipped and dodged every single one, all while protecting Jared.

"What the hell was that, game developers?!" Zoe asked herself, on her knees, panting. Regina held out a laser sword and swung down, but Jared blocked it, taking the blow to the hip.

"How are you even awake?" Regina glared, and Jared was using his sword as a cane,

"Takes more than a little electrocution to kill me..." He panted, "But I was just being the distraction right now." Regina turned and saw Zoe and Eli, hand in hand, one surrounded by a dark fire while the other surrounded by light ice. They smiled to each other and sent their hands flying out in a brilliant beam of dark violet and pale blue.

"NOOOOOOOO!" The beam hit Regina, and the witch was gone, replaced with a marble statue. She looked sad, like a child who didn't know what she had done wrong.

But the most fascinating thing was all of the names. Her dress was comprised of the names of all the people she had killed, more recent ones being at the bottom. Plagg, Pikko, Wayzz, Amelia, Natalie, all of her daughters, Maeve... there were also some names that were faded, almost like they had been erased. Eli and Colin Blackwell.

"D...Did we just win?" Eli asked. Zoe nodded,

"We won, Hero, we did it." She was cut off by a passionate kiss from her mate, which she gladly reciprocated.

"Guys...I'm still here..." they broke apart and saw Jared, who looked rather annoyed, his eyes barely open,

"Jared!" They both ran over, "You okay?"

"I've been better," was his response, "Fireclaw and adrenaline let me ignore all my injuries, but that's coming back now." Eli noticed the blood seeping from his hip and the swelling from his left thigh. He placed a hand on Jared's forehead and the injuries healed,

"Better?" Jared nodded, only to pass out. Zoe had her lips pursed, and Eli turned,

"He's okay. Exhausted beyond belief and will likely sleep for a week, but he'll live." Zoe nodded,

"Alright. Let's list the pros and cons of our current situation." Eli smiled,

"We defeated Regina."

"Jared is exhausted beyond belief, and I know from experience that he weighs more than you and I combined." Eli nodded to himself,

"Okay...I can give him more energy magically. But our children can live peacefully."

"We have no idea where the fuck we are, or more importantly how to get out."

"You're right. That's a problem. At least it can't get any worse."

"My water broke when we started this conversation."

"FUCK!"

**A/N: Yup. Zoe is in labor and they have no idea where the fuck they are. Remember to feed Cheeto if you want to see how that goes down.**

** And remember, I can still kill people off even if Regina and Mara are defeated, so review to spare them!**


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N: You're survived this long, warnings are not needed. Though there is a mature theme brought up after the birth.**

**Chapter 31: Family**

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME SOONER?!" Eli was paler than clean bedsheets, as Zoe doubled over in pain, laying down on the...floor-thing?... on her side. She deactivated her armor and revealed she was wearing a long grey nightshirt and black sweatpants.

"I thought it was just Braxton Hicks," Zoe said, clutching her stomach as a contraction hit, "Didn't think I was really in labor!" Eli crawled to her side, cradling her in his arms,

"Zoe, how long have you been in labor?" She shrugged,

"Since the war began..." If possible, Eli got paler, putting Snow White to shame now.

"You've been in labor for five hours." She shrugged, and he picked her up, bridal style, not even faltering at her weight and that of her twins. He kicked Jared, only for the large man to just be turned from his side to his back with his limbs splayed out. Eli swore colorfully, letting his mate hold his hand, as he kicked Jared again. He tried supplying energy and didn't get any different result.

Zoe gasped in pain. The contractions were not far apart, and that meant she was going to need to push soon. Eli then decided he wasn't in the mood, and sent a blast of electricity at Jared's stomach, which did the trick just fine.

"Wha..."

"Not the time, Jared." Eli snapped, "Zoe's in labor and I refuse to have my children born in...whatever this is. We need to get out." And then Jared started reciting the curse word alphabet.

"You're delivering if she pops."

"OH FUCK YOU JARED!" Zoe cried out, clutching Eli's hand that was holding her. Eli sent Jared a dirty look, and since they were roughly the same height now with Eli having grown a bit more with amnesia, he was able to look him dead in the eye,

"I actually do have experience in this field, so I would be doing that anyway."

"Wait, what?" Both Zoe and Jared sent him an odd look, and it was Zoe who spoke on it,

"You've had a baby? YOU HAD A CHILD I DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT!"

"No!" Eli huffed, "Though since Zoe is the only good luck in a sea of bad luck that is my life, it's only a matter of time before I get cursed and pregnant." He started walking in search of an exit, "I was a midwife as one of my many jobs."

"Why the hell did you get a degree in midwifery?" Jared asked.

"Actually, my degrees are a minor in engineering and a major in graphic design. I was twelve when I ended up in that job."

"What the fuck, Eli." Zoe raised an eyebrow at him. Eli flushed,

"What? I lived in the poor part of New York City like where one would find those people from _Rent_, with Dad spending all our money on drugs, do you really think I had much of a choice?"

"Why the hell did they even let you?!" Jared asked incredulously, "If I was giving birth, I wouldn't want a twelve-year-old to be looking up my—"

"I was going to the best school in the city on a full scholarship, so I was mature enough for it. And apparently, that job pays well. By well, I mean I was at a discount being in the poor part of New York City where people can't afford the hospital and all. But it and my other two or three jobs, depending on the month, got me by."

Jared massaged his temples, "Not sure if I should judge or respect you."

"How about you shut up and help us look for a way out." Eli snapped, biting down on his lip as Zoe whimpered again. They really had to fucking hurry.

"Shhhh, it's okay, Zoe. Just breathe and hold my hand." Zoe didn't even open her eyes. She was already tired from the battle and this was making it worse. Eli knew the chances of losing one of the babies was high, and the chances of losing all three of them were even higher. He refused to let that happen to her; they had come too far.

They continued walking, until there was a bright flash of light and they were on a beach.

It was night, there were black rocks everywhere, and they had purple veins through them. The sand was a dark grey, but the water looked the same as large bodies of water would at night. There was a full moon that supplied plenty of illumination.

"End of the road?" Jared asked, talking a couple steps forward in search of a path.

"Yup." Eli looked around desperately for any sign of life, only to come up empty.

Zoe groaned in pain as Eli used his magic to turn some of the sand into a soft bed. It wasn't much, but it was the best one could do in this situation.

When Eli was by her side, Zoe took his hand, "You fucking asshole," Eli kissed her head. He looked up nervously and shoved Jared back to Zoe's upper half, before slowly removing her pants and underwear. It was clear he wasn't emotionally prepared for this, but he actually had a shockingly convincing poker face; the only way Zoe knew he was uncomfortable was because she could feel what he was feeling.

"Okay, Zoe, you're fully dilated. I need you to start pushing. Jared, support her." Jared looked ready to argue, but Eli's death glare made him simply obey while Zoe sat up, getting comfortable while resting on Jared.

"Already?"

"Yes. Already. You've been in labor for hours, need I remind you?" There was a tad bit of bitterness in his tone, but it was hidden by the love and gentleness.

Zoe breathed in and pushed hard, groaning and rolling her head when she was done.

"You're doing good, Princess, give me another push."

Zoe pushed and pushed with all she had in her; she fell against Jared's chest after the previous push, out of breath.

Jared moved to get away after a few minutes of being ignored, "Why am I here? You two seem to be doing just fine on your own." Zoe grabbed his shirt, baring her teeth,

"You don't leave until I tell you too, so shut the fuck up and give me your hand." She could feel her baby inching through her pelvis, and it hurt like a motherfucker. She wasn't sure if she wanted the babies to come as hard and fast as they were, but it was happening, and that meant this painful nightmare would be over soon.

"You're doing so good, Zoe." Eli encouraged, "Give another push, I can see the head crowning." Zoe pushed, and let herself scream, feeling the baby's head pushing out very little.

"FUCK! ELI, YOU SON OF A BITCH! YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED NEAR ME EVER AGAIN WITH YOUR FUCKING DICK! JESUS, HAVE YOUR OWN FUCKING KID." She was huffing and tired, so tired. This pain reminded her of when Gabriel stabbed her, and those stress-induced migraines she had gotten on her birth world, all in her lower body combined with the worst PMS ever.

Eli just smiled apologetically, as though he knew it was the hormones talking, but also knew that saying anything was a terrible idea, "And I am sorry for your pain, Zoe, but I need you to give a nice long and hard push, to get the shoulders out." She nodded weakly and got her bearings, squeezing Jared's hand when she bore down. Jared was swearing under his breath, and Zoe was too, only one out of emotional discomfort and the other out of physical agony.

Zoe felt the shoulders slip out and she gasped, whispering, "Son of a bitch."

"You're almost there, darling; our first baby is almost here. Give me another push to push the baby out."

Zoe shook her head frantically, "I-I can't. I'm so tired." She stared at her mate, "I can't Eli, I can't do it anymore. Please. Let it be done. Please don't make me do it."

Eli frowned, he could sense his mate's distress but knew she had to do it. This was baby one of two. Why now? Why did she have to go into labor now?

He gave as much of a pep talk as he could, "Sweetheart, I know you're tired. You're almost there though. You just need to give one last hard push, and then you can be done with this baby, and focus on the next. You are bringing our babies to this world, and that's amazing, but they can't come into it without your help. Just give me one last push, my Queen. Then you can rest for a little bit."

Zoe was staring at Eli and squeezed Jared's hand to the breaking point. She breathed in deep and pushed down hard, screaming. She had never seen the appeal to screaming, as it just tore at her throat, but it was more a way of expressing the pain than anything.

There was a loud cry, and Eli brought a blanket into existence using the sand.

The little boy was covered in fluids and gunk, but was the most beautiful creature Zoe had ever seen. She had a moment or so before labor started again, and took that chance to hold her son. His dull violet eyes looking up at her curiously, his hair so perfectly blonde it was almost like strands of gold. He was small, hardly the size or weight of a small melon, but he was still perfection.

Eli smiled as Zoe held their son, before passing him to Jared as a contraction hit her to bring their daughter into the world, "I'm gonna have to check you now." he said, "This is probably going to feel weird for a minute, but I'll try to be quick."

Zoe shook her head, grabbing Jared's free wrist tightly as another contraction took hold. Tears streamed down her face, mouth open in a silent scream. She started to bear down without realizing it; she just wanted it to be over.

"Zoe! Zoe, you have to breathe! Zoe!" Eli shouted in panic. He tried to catch his wife's frantic gaze as it darted around the beach as if she were looking for an escape. Zoe's face turned a deep shade of red as she gripped Jared's wrist tighter, grinding the bones together painfully.

"Zoe, listen to Eli." Jared said, wincing a little, but otherwise remaining pretty calm, "You need to breathe if you're going to have this kid."

Zoe let out the breath she'd been holding, allowing a ragged sob, sucking in huge gulps of air. She collapsed against Jared, face red as she tried to catch her breath. "This is way harder than I expected. I don't know if I can do this."

Eli got up and wrapped his arms around her, grounding his mate. "Of course you can do this, Zoe. You just have to believe you can. Now on the next contraction, I want you to push. Okay?"

Zoe nodded, gripping Jared's biceps for support. "Fine." She wanted to be at home, with her sister doing the delivering so she could cling to Eli, but at least Eli had his memory and was here with her. That would just have to do.

"I need you to take a deep breath and push down when you feel a contraction." Eli's voice was calm and steady as he held her gaze, blue and violet orbs gazing at each other until she felt another contraction.

The only response he got from her was a pained groan, and a tightening of the grip on Jared's arms as Zoe started to bear down. "You're doing great. Push with the contraction, use the pain. I'm right here with you, just remember that." Eli murmured soft words of encouragement to his beautiful wife, hoping she could hear him.

Zoe let out a short pained scream as she gave another push as the contraction intensified. She could feel the baby's head slowly sliding down her channel and beginning to stretch her opening as she grunted through the end of the contraction. "Oh god, Eli! It hurts!"

"You can do this, Princess. You're doing so great. I love you." Eli's loving voice, contrary to his tone with Mara, brought a tired smile to Zoe's face.

She spread her legs farther apart as another contraction took hold and she pushed again, a long keening cry filling the room as the head lodged in her opening at the widest point. "Oh fuck, it burns!"

"Eli, the head's almost out!" Zoe exclaimed. "What do I do now?" Kudos to Jared, who just remained silent for this, no matter how much he wanted to talk, or to leave, or to ask why the hell he was holding this baby.

"There are three things we need to do now." Eli bit his lip, "Zoe, you need to breathe through the contractions and resist the urge to push; otherwise, you're going to tear yourself. I need to massage the skin of your opening and help the baby's head the rest of the way out. And once the head is out, I need to check to make sure the cord isn't wrapped around her neck."

Zoe groaned as she tried her damnedest not to push, even though every fiber of her being was telling her that was the right thing to do. Eli was speechless as he placed shaking fingers against the baby's skull, massaging the stretched skin of Zoe's opening around it. He couldn't believe he was doing this; holding his daughter in his hand as his wife brought her into the world.

Eli watched the baby's head emerge inch by inch as the contracting muscles of Zoe's body guided her into Eli's waiting hand. His fingers slipped briefly into her opening and he couldn't help the sigh of relief that left him when he didn't encounter the umbilical cord. "Okay, Zoe, the baby's head is out. It's safe for you to push again. You're going to need to push hard to get the shoulders out."

She nodded, dropping her head and letting out a long breath. She pushed with all her might, grunting like an animal as the shoulders slowly began to pass from her. She let out a guttural shout and Eli was scrambling to catch the small body that slipped from her.

"You did it, Zoe! You did it!" Eli gasped in glee as he reached to his side and grabbed the bulb to clear the baby's airways. He rubbed a towel across the bloody babies, a happy sob escaping his throat as two unhappy shrieks filled the room.

"I knew you could do it, Zoe. You're so strong," Eli remarked, his voice thick with tears.

Zoe fell slack, sweat-soaked hair sticking to her forehead, and Jared used his jacket as a pillow almost, letting her lay flat on the mattress.

"Do you want to hold them?" Eli held the infants out to Zoe. She nodded, shakily, sitting up so he could transfer the babies to her.

"Hey babies, I'm your Mom. You know how to make an entrance, don't you? You weren't supposed to come for another two weeks." She looked up at Eli, "He's your Dad. You two are going to be troublemakers when you're older, aren't you?"

"Have you thought of names yet, guys?" Jared asked tiredly.

"Roxas and Aelin Sommers." Zoe replied, "We already decided that a while ago. As for middle names..."

Roxas Jared Sommers, and Aelin Maeve Sommers.

Zoe groaned as a contraction took her by surprise, and she had to stop herself from tightening her grip on the twins. "Jared, I need you to take the twins." She all but shoved Roxas and Aelin into his arms, a hand cupping the deflating swell of her stomach.

"It's just the afterbirth, Zoe. It'll pass as you bond with the twins. Here, take them," Jared stated, "What? Eli is not the only one who knows things."

The afterbirth went by fairly quickly, and at this point, Eli had turned a good chunk of sand into blankets for his wife and babies.

"Alright. Jared, guard them." But Jared had already passed out unceremoniously into a heap, the sand now in his hair. Eli groaned and turned some sand into a second bed, putting Jared on it.

"He won't be up for a while," Blazze said, "Viirus and I will guard." Eli nodded, taking Goldryn and walking off the beach in search of materials to start setting up shop. They didn't seem to be leaving for a while, so might as well get comfortable.

If he had to guess, he would say they were in the Realm of Darkness. The only light came from the glow of the rocks around, which was surprisingly bright. Monsters attacked him from time to time, and he found the occasional treasure. This wasn't bad at all.

He was walking for what felt like roughly an hour before he found himself in a small town. There were dark crystals everywhere and some parts of the ground was displaced, but there were a couple houses that remained intact. It wouldn't be hard to move one to the beach.

He walked into the biggest of the intact ones and saw three bedrooms and three bathrooms—though it was debatable if the plumbing would work—perfect.

"Hello Eli." Eli froze, his grip tightening on Goldryn. He had since removed his armor, having left it on the beach, so he felt the icy hand on his shoulder. He whirled around and violet met dark brown.

Douglas.

"W-What are you doing here?" He stammered, trying to sound strong when he was actually filled with the desire to run. Douglas had a look of obviously false innocence,

"I'm your master, so of course I'm here." Eli squirmed out of his grip,

"No. Zoe killed you by accidentally dropping you off a building. There's no way, unless this is Hell."

"Getting warmer." Douglas chuckled, "This is the Realm of Darkness, where illusions come to break the unlucky folks to get trapped down here, but since your freak of a girlfriend killed me, I get to actually talk to you!" He came closer and Eli was too frozen to move, "So I can make you my pet again. I miss hearing you scream and beg."

"What are you talking about? The closet? Because I think I'm strong enough to get out of a closet now." Eli allowed himself a satisfactory smirk. He was going to win this and make this illusion leave him the fuck alone.

Douglas looked offended, "You really don't remember. Guess that Mage Godfather or yours locked it away. Allow me to jog your memory." He ran at him too fast for Eli to react and pinned him to the wall with his stomach facing the wall.

And then he remembered.

Those days Douglas took the torture too far and decided to just break him. Violate him. How Hana cared for him for days after that. How he was the one to start sex with Zoe because he needed to push this memory down, know that he was safe with her, how she had been all for it but still made sure he wanted that.

"Remember now?" Eli growled. He wasn't proud of that memory, not in the slightest, but he wouldn't let it break him. Not now at least.

"Yeah." He backhanded Douglas in the face, and remembered he actually had magic he could use. "You're not going to break me." He said, with the same icy tone as when he killed Mara,

"I am Eli Sommers, and I will not be afraid." He clenched his fist and brought his former tormentor to his knees.

Douglas laughed, "I actually was supposed to deliver a message from a nice man by the name of Millard."

"Message?" Eli crossed his arms, "What message?" Douglas smirked, then his eyes turned icy green and his voice was a richer and more cultured,

"Sleep easy for now, Warlock, but I am getting stronger, and when I am ready, not even your precious Worldbenders can save the multiverse. I'll revive Douglas as an experiment. So just let my words sink in. However, if you hand over the Enchantress, I'll let your family live."

"Enchantress?"

"She's taken a vessel in someone you know and hold dear. Surrender her and I promise your family safety." Eli pondered it for a moment, before driving his blade into the illusion,

"Nah. Fight me, you son of a bitch, but you will. not. win." The illusion vanished in a puff of black smoke. Eli coughed, then it truly sank in what he had remembered.

He sobbed.

He sat there for a bit, just crying, before remembering he had a wife and babies waiting for him.

Should he tell Zoe? Hana was the only other person who knew, but he had no idea if she was even alive! Kelly clearly knew if he had locked the memory away, but there was no way in hell he was going to be asking his Godfather and uncle figure for advice on _that_.

Eventually he decided no, he wouldn't tell her, not for a while at least.

Eli wandered the town until he found some more sheets, and two bassinets. Shoving them all in the house he chose, he lifted the building off the ground and floated it back to the beach, where he plopped it down.

"What took ya so long?" He saw Zoe nursing the twins. He found himself shocked that other than her breasts, she already looked like she had never been pregnant at all. Must have been her magic. Eli froze for a moment, before shrugging,

"Took a while to find a decent house." But Zoe wasn't convinced. She got up, stumbling a bit, and walked over,

"And?"

"And I ran into an illusion of Douglas." Zoe gasped and hugged him,

"Oh Hero…" He stroked her hair. This was who he wanted, and no bad memory was going to change that. She would respect if he said 'no', not that it mattered as she was his Queen.

"Nothing I couldn't handle, my Queen." He kissed her, because he needed her, and he didn't want her to know exactly how shaken he was from that encounter. What would he even say to her? Oh yeah, did I ever tell you Douglas raped me? That just… he didn't want to say anything.

She sent him a loving look, "Sorry about what I said when I was in labor." He laughed, having honestly forgotten about it,

"It's forgotten. You were in a lot of pain. But if there is a next time, can we agree to go to the hospital?" Zoe giggled,

"Assuming we get out of here." Her face darkened, taking the twins from the bed off to the side and sticking them in their respective bassinets, "Eli…something is wrong with Roxas." Eli's eyes widened and he checked his newborn son over, only to realize the same thing Zoe had,

"He's blind." Zoe nodded, starting to cry,

"It's my fault. I should have been more careful during the pregnancy." He hugged her,

"It's not your fault. Things like that just happen sometimes. Besides, he's gonna have powers and those powers are most likely going to adapt to his disability." Zoe sniffed, nodding a little, before yawning,

"I'm still really tired. My magic healed me, but exhausted me in the process." He pecked her on the cheek,

"Well then, we should remedy that." He swept her off her feet and she shrieked in surprise as he gently set her down on their now-clean bed in the house. He sat down with her and she took his hand,

"I'll miss Felix, but I don't mind being trapped in endless darkness with you and our babies for eternity." He laid down with her,

"Me too. As long as you're by my side, the multiverse can't suck it. Throw all the demons at us, we won't care." She giggled,

"Agreed. Poor Jared though, stuck here with us forever."

The couple just laughed.

OoOoO

A month had passed in the Realm of Light.

Eden was restless.

They had gone back to Paris—or rather, set up a portal between the Dark Tower and Paris—and tried to make their lives go back to normal. But it wasn't working, as nobody knew the status of Eli, Jared, Zoe or her unborn babies.

They had seen the Regina statue that teleported to the Realm of Light, but the trio of heroes was nowhere to be found. Celebration after celebration was in their honor, in hopes they would turn up, but nothing.

Kelly had been so badly burned out that Melanie had to put him in a stasis to keep him from dying, saying that he would recover when he woke up. But with every day that passed, Eden was losing hope of her Dad ever waking.

Gabriel had been bombarded by the press on his newfound youth, and he simply stated he got hit by a de-aging spell that was supposed to hit Adrien, so now he was young and not complaining about it at all.

Camille had spent her time with Joselyn and Harrison, who were the heartbroken ones. Harrison had just gotten his family together, only for Eli to slip away again. Joselyn was devastated over the loss of Jared, and Camille mourned her crush, her brother, and her sister-in-law.

Marinette was a month pregnant. Even though the pregnancy had been an insemination against her will, this child was hers and Adrien's, and she had a whole city who was willing to help her through it. As Tom had said, "Everyone loves Marinette." So she was keeping the baby.

The kwamis had returned to their respective Miraculouses, though Tikki would often shift into her Fae form to help in the bakery—which Tom and Sabine were all for, as she was a free full-time helping hand. She also helped Marinette, because Adrien was in no position to do so.

Adrien… he had not gotten better. If anything, he had gotten even damn worse.

Because the war was over, Plagg was avenged, he had nothing to distract him from the gaping hole where his friend used to be. His talk with Gabriel had helped for a little bit, but he still didn't eat and rarely slept. They had tried having him go to school once Jun taught him glamours to hide his Fae features—not that it really mattered because the class had seen weirder shit at this point, so he didn't put them up around his friends—but he was just a closed off shell of who he used to be.

Imagine when Zoe lost Eli, only worse. He looked like a corpse drained of all life, with his ribs showing, dark bags under his eyes, and the only words he spoke were "I'm not hungry," "I'm fine," or "I just need to be alone."

Everyone had tried to help him, but none of them could understand exactly how painful it was for him. Hell, Nino had had him over for a sleepover, getting all of Adrien's favorites, but was never eaten. Yes, Nino was doing the best job as he got Adrien into video games again, and could make him smile—even if for a fleeting moment.

The teachers were being as supportive as they could be for a war hero going through grief and PTSD. Adrien still got perfect scores on the tests, but he never did the homework, and didn't speak in class, preferring to sleep through it. That was the only time he slept, as night was when he had nightmares and flashes of memory.

Often times, he could be found in the CCR, where Plagg's body was being magically preserved and laid to rest in the coffin. He would sit there for hours, shedding tears and otherwise remaining silent.

Tom and Sabine were a little annoyed he wasn't with his pregnant mate, but once they had seen the state of him in person and realized his behavior applied to literally everyone, they let it slide, hoping he would recover soon. Though he was almost in his own little world of pain, so nobody actually knew if he even realized Zoe, Eli and Jared were gone.

Emilie rotated between staying with Kelly and trying to help Adrien, crestfallen at the state of both. Gabriel had demanded from this managers that his schedule was loosened so he had more time for his huge ass family.

Gavin was legally adopted as Gavin Agreste, so he spent his time playing with his baby sister or mourning his mother, or having nightmares still. Gabriel did what he could for his adopted son, but it was actually Felix—who now looked ten—who helped the little boy through it, having basically lost his parents _twice_. He hadn't given up on finding them, and came back in tears every single time he returned without his parents and Jared.

And Eden was done with this.

"Eden! You can't do this!" Roari insisted.

In her Fae form, Roari was a fair young woman with dark pink hair with black streaks, orange eyes, and tan skin—almost like Beyoncé. She wore a loose pink summer dress and black heels.

Eden turned, "And why not?"

"Your powers aren't meant to chase people through the multiverse and different timelines and realms!" She pleaded, "Even if you do manage to locate them, you might never be able to come home to us again!"

"I don't care!" She snapped, eyes pleading for her kwami to understand, "My whole journey began the day I lost her! And every time I find her again, she slips away. No more." Roari looked ready to argue, before relenting,

"Be careful."

"Don't worry. I'll be home with them before anyone realizes I'm gone. In the morning, just say I went to go clear my head." Roari nodded and hugged her.

Eden transformed into Tenshi and opened a portal to the Blind Eternities. She knew she could travel through, it was fine. She sent one last look to Roari before flying through.

OoOoO

Zoe didn't know how long had passed, as it seemed time didn't flow.

The twins had jumped in age to six months, which had confirmed their assumption that Roxas was blind. But his affinity was phasing through things, so that worked in his favor. Aelin had been named very well, as her affinity was fire—not dark fire, just fire—but poor Jared had gotten his hair on fire once, and needed to get three inches cut.

Eli also panicked when they noticed Aelin had the same white streaks in her hair as he did. So now he would have to explain that.

Overall, they didn't mind their lives. Once Jared's door was working properly, he wasn't as worried about privacy, though Roxas would occasionally crawl into his room via phasing and that was hilarious.

Eli still hadn't told Zoe of that one returned memory, but it was no longer hiding it, rather he was so busy getting things from the other parts of the Dark Realm and caring for the twins that he didn't have time.

Also, Jared had the weirdest baby superpower. No matter how fussy they were, just plop them in Jared's arms and they would stop. Zoe had as such started calling him "The baby whisperer" and Jared just groaned, because this meant if Zoe and Eli wanted to go do something as a date, he got stuck on babysitting. He'd even tried overloading them on sugar, and they _still_ behaved for him!

Right now, Zoe was cooking the dark crab that the men had caught. No, this wasn't because of gender roles, it was because Zoe hated catching and killing crab after some childhood trauma, but was the only one who knew how to cook it. If she caught a dark-quail, Eli was the one cooking. Jared had no idea how to cook, but the couple let that slide because he watched the twins.

The beach was the only safe place from the hallucinations and monsters, as they'd discovered, so when she heard a very familiar voice from outside, she immediately went to go check it out.

"Hello?" Zoe gasped,

"Sam?!"

Her childhood best friend turned to her, shocked. He looked at least 24—though that made sense since she had been gone on her world for nine years—and like he had been having a rough week. His black hair was an uncontrolled mop, and his clothing was torn, he also wasn't wearing his usual makeup—he was the best makeup artist one could ask for, and when she had known him, he always wore makeup, so this was quite strange—and he was also bleeding from here and there.

"Z…Zoe?" He ran towards her, "ZOE!" He crushed her into a hug, "Y-You're real!"

"Sam, yeah I'm real, I don't understand…how did you get here?" She noticed the injuries, and did a magic check to see if he was really Sam. He was. "Good god, come on in!"

He sat on the couch in their home and she got him a think of scotch, which he didn't pour and just took a gulp from the bottle. She started treating his injuries as he explained,

"I don't know how long I've been here." He said, "All I know was for the last ten years, I've been looking for you. I got news that in Seville, Arizona, Maeve was dead, Joselyn had vanished, and people matching you and Kelly's descriptions were seen leaving. I got there, pretending to be the FBI like a fucking Winchester—I'm quite proud of that—and then there was a horrible earthquake and the world started collapsing in on itself. Some woman by the name of Regina came with a demon claiming to be Dausi, saying that she had her uses for me. Then I woke up here."

"So Earth is destroyed?" Zoe smiled, "Meh. Regina's dead now, and did either of us like being on Earth?" Sam shook his head with a chuckle.

"So how about you? As I said, I've been looking for a decade, and you look no older than four more years." He chuckled humorlessly, "I had a crazy theory that you had been sucked into _Miraculous Ladybug_."

"I was." Sam spit out his drink, then his eyes brightened,

"So you remember your powers!" That caught her attention,

"Dad didn't wipe your memory!?" Sam shook his head,

"I begged him not to. He found me doing research on your powers, seeing if I could find ways to help you with control. He told me he'd bound your powers, and made me promise to never tell you or anyone else that they had existed. I made the promise, but that's why I was more open to crazy theories."

"So you knew. All those times you would send me excited looks when I got mad at someone, you wanted me to awaken my powers."

"Yeah. Having a superpowered best friend is the geek's dream! That, and that's how we met." Zoe smiled at the memory,

_Zoe had been six years old. She was on a walk to clear her head, and getting some groceries. Her dad was going to be home tomorrow night, and she wanted it to be perfect for him._

_She paused when she heard someone crying and walked towards the school, seeing one of the boys being beaten on by older kids. She didn't go to public school, in favor of a small private school, lest she lose control of her powers. But she wasn't going to put up that shit,_

_"Hey!" The older boy looked down at her, like he'd been slapped._

_"Hello little girl. Where are your parents?"_

_Zoe crossed her arms. This boy towered over her, so he laughed when he realized she was alone._

_"Leave him alone," she gestured to the small boy, likely her age, that the bully had been beating on, "and nobody gets hurt."_

_"What are you gonna do?" The second bully asked, "Cry?" Zoe raised an eyebrow, smirking, as she summoned her dark fire and sent them both flying backwards, teleporting behind them and making them fly around for a moment, before crashing to the ground. They had both pissed themselves, and when Zoe took a step in front of them, they both scrambled away._

_Zoe nodded in satisfaction and turned to the boy,_

_"Are you okay?" She wasn't worried about those bullies, or this kid, because nobody would believe three kids saying they saw a girl with superpowers, without proof. The boy gaped at her, and Zoe was a little afraid of what he would think,_

_"That was awesome." He said, looking at her hands, "How'd you do that!" He seemed genuinely thrilled. She frowned,_

_"Mom told me people wouldn't like my powers. Why are you so happy?"_

_"Are you kidding!?" The boy pulled out a picture book, a comic, _X-Men_, "You're like a superhero! You just need a costume and a cool name!"_

_Zoe giggled, "I'm Zoe. My only friend is my very normal sister." The boy took her hand and shook it,_

_"I'm Sam. I have no friends."_

_The two giggled, and from then on, they were inseparable. _

The two friends chatted for hours. That was the thing about best friends, they always started right where they left off.

At one point, she brought the twins down, and Sam now demanded to talk with Eli—who was out looking for more things with Jared.

Eli came in a couple more hours later, holding a chest full of clothes and jewelry. He jumped in surprise at the sight of Sam.

"Wha…?!"

"Eli, relax." Zoe got up, kissing him, before gesturing to Sam, "This is by childhood best friend, Sam. Sam, meet Eli, my husband and other half." Sam narrowed his eyes, holding his hand out to shake,

"Pleasure. You and I are gonna talk though about your relationship with my best friend." Eli looked very uncomfortable, but did sit down.

Zoe left to go check on Jared and let the two talk

…

"So…" Sam said, "Eli… how old are you?"

"Seventeen. Though since we don't know how much time has passed, I might be eighteen, because my birthday is in April." Sam nodded to himself quietly,

"How long have you been with Zoe?"

"I've known her since her fifteenth birthday." Eli replied, "We got together about six months after that. Another year passed, and that was when we started getting intimate, then I got my soul shattered so she had to save me…but we got a hand-fasting from my dead mother during that time…so about a year and five months."

"You'll respect her wishes? No means no." Sam noticed when Eli's expression turned dark, but his answer satisfied him,

"She is my Queen, my light, my everything. I would be dead without her. I'm happy as long as she is. I wish I could have taken her pain in childbirth…if she says no to anything, I won't complain, I won't try to dissuade her, she is too special. I know the pain of not having a choice, because she saved me from a man who was using me like a slave, and I don't wish it on anyone. I will never hurt her, and help her through any pain she ends up in." Sam grinned,

"I couldn't ask for anything more perfect than what you just said. Welcome to the family, Eli."

Just then, Zoe ran in, "Jared found something!" She grabbed the twins and Eli helped Sam walk as he had cut up his left leg pretty badly.

Jared was holding up a bottle with a letter in it. Zoe took the letter, "It's enchanted with light magic!" She cleared her throat and started reading it,

"Thinking of you, wherever you are.

We pray for our sorrows to end, and hope that our hearts will blend.

Now I will step forward to realize this wish.

And who knows: starting a new journey may not be so hard, or maybe it has already begun.

There are many worlds, but they share the same sky —

one sky, one destiny.

Come home, Zoe."

— Eden Imelda

The letter was dated seven years prior in Earth years. And as she read it, a bright light formed in the water. Eli gasped,

"A door to light…we can get out!" Jared gave Zoe the finger,

"Looks like you were wrong!" Zoe had commented that he was the best role model for her children because he was gonna be a virgin for eternity, being stuck in the Realm of Darkness with nobody but the Sommers family. She smirked,

"We shall see, Winchester." She held a hand out to Sam, "We'll go together!" He looked down at the hand he hadn't seen in a decade, before taking it. Eli took the twins and they all walked through.

**A/N: Sam has been introduced! More of Eli's time with Douglas was brought up. A new threat! The twins were born! So many things happened!**

**So remember to review to see what happens next!**


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N: Remember back in _Fireheart and the Tiger_ when I said Eli's story was the darkest part? I meant the revelation of last chapter.**

**Chapter 32: The reunion and official wedding**

The team was relaxing on the world that was once the Dark Tower, but Joselyn had used her powers to remodel it into the Light Tower. There was no sign of the tragic war, and there are started to be an animal population.

Some of the adults were sunbathing on the lakeside beach by the lake mansion, while Gabriel was playing with the children in the water. The ultimate swimming lessons when your Dad was a Naiad.

Gavin looked up, "Look!" That got the attention of all of the adults. Camille gasped,

"Is that…"

Four things that looked like shooting stars crashed into the lake from the sky.

Jared, Sam, Eli and Zoe came up—the last two holding up their crying children.

"We made it!" Zoe started treading water while supporting Roxas. Jared just flipped onto his back and let himself float. For the first time in…now that Zoe thought about it, nine _years_, Jared got to relax.

The moment of relief was ruined when a young man came out of the water, showing a fish tail. Jared started flailing when the Naiad touched his arm,

"It's me! Jared! Chill!" Zoe gaped,

"GABE?!" Gabriel nodded, smiling, then gaping at the two babies. He took the two so their parents could focus on swimming. Aelin looked at him curiously, while Roxas almost phased through the Naiad's arms.

The group swam to land, where Camille ran at Jared and quickly pulled him into a kiss. Cue much cheering from Marinette and Alya. Yeah, pretty much everyone was there—the only ones not there were Adrien, Emilie and Kelly.

Jared was clearly shocked at first, but eventually returned it, both becoming quickly involved.

Everyone waited a full minute, but once Zoe started getting flashbacks to the Heroes' Day picnic where Adrien and Marinette almost started fucking in the park, she had to ruin the mood.

"Get a room!" They both flipped her off, and Camille's eyes lit up as a room just appeared out of nowhere. Harrison looked ready to die, then saw Eli and his grandchildren, deciding to hug them. Zoe wasn't so easy turned away. She pounded on the walls,

"Fine Jared! You win! Can ya come out now? Neither of you have protection, so do you really want to end up in a situation like mine?"

"Zoe, you had the twins!" Marinette looked at the two babies, and Harrison was holding them up, one in each hand, like the fucking Lion King.

"Look at my beautiful grandchildren!"

"They are so cute." Zoe said, "But they hurt like motherfuckers to get out. So how long were we gone?"

"Mama!" Felix ran over, and Zoe noted he had not only aged more, he had gone through some physical changes. His hair was now chocolate brown like Eli's, and his eyes were a blue-violet.

"You've been gone for a month." Alya replied, "We're all out here to clear our heads. Eden's been gone for a week, we think she went looking for you, and Adrien isn't doing well." Nino bowed his head, and his girlfriend comforted him, "It's not your fault, Nino."

"It really isn't, Nino." Everyone turned and gasped.

Amelia was floating there, smiling warmly.

"Mom?" Eli walked up to her, "You're here…" Amelia nodded.

"I was supposed to do this a month ago, but I couldn't find you in the Dark Realm." She shrugged, sending Harrison a smile, "Because mother tipped the scales so drastically, I am allowed to give you two and Jared a wish. There is no limit, and no price." Everyone's eyes widened at the ultimate jackpot that was.

Zoe sat down on a beach chair, while Sam was chatting with Alya about being sent those pictures. Eli opened his mouth, very excited, before he became sad. Then he smiled again,

"Bring Plagg back. Not a zombie, not a ghost, just Plagg. Adrien needs him back, and Marinette needs Adrien." Everyone was surprised by the selflessness of his wish. He could have anything. He could erase the memory of his torment at the hands of Douglas, he could do anything, and he chose Adrien's sanity.

"That's quite the wish." Amelia looked like the most proud mother ever at how selfless her son had grown up to be, "But it can be done. He won't be Noble Fae, simply High Fae, but I don't think Adrien will mind." She snapped her fingers.

…

Adrien had placed more flowers on the coffin, and cried at the foot of it. He wanted to want to do things, but he was just done. Sick of crying, tired of trying. Every time he told himself, "Okay, I am going to spend time with Marinette!" he found himself just rolling back over and trying to sleep. He had tried to get better, but nothing worked.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a bright light. He looked up and saw it was coming from Plagg's body. And then a true miracle.

Plagg opened his eyes. Then he started tapping on the glass.

Adrien got up at superhuman speeds and opened the coffin. Plagg's eyes were no longer cat-like, now identical to Adrien's own, but Adrien didn't care.

"P-Plagg?" Plagg rubbed his head,

"Adrien? What happened? The last thing I remember is—" He was cut off by a tight hug.

"PLAGG! YOU'RE ALIVE!" He helped his friend out of the coffin and carried him into his bedroom, setting him down,

"Adrien…how am I alive?" He asked, suddenly looking scared, "You didn't make a deal, right?" He gripped Adrien's shoulder, "Please tell me you didn't make a deal!"

"I don't know how you're alive…" Adrien started crying, finally feeling the happiness he had yearned for, "But I'm glad you are. Things have been hell without you…"

"You look it." Plagg said, "And now that I'm alive, you promised me cheese!" For the first time in forever, Adrien laughed, pulling out some camembert from his mini-fridge. His stomach growled loudly, finally appreciating the fact he had barely eaten at all in the last month.

Plagg split the cheese, "Adrien, when was the last time you ate?" Adrien shrugged, genuinely having no idea. He was given half the cheese wheel. "Eat. I did not just come back from the dead for you to die of starvation." Adrien brightened,

"Oh! The others don't know you're alive!" Plagg grinned,

"Something tells me they already know. But we should go meet up with them. You look like you need sunlight." Adrien took his hand and ran to the portal. Emilie saw him and gasped,

"Adrien!?" She followed him.

…

"Guys!" Adrien came running out of the portal. He was laughing and smiling. Plagg was being dragged behind him,

"Adrien, I'm delicate!" Plagg said, "I'm just High Fae, so be gentle with me!" Nino gaped at how happy Adrien was now. He still looked like hell, but he was smiling, laughing, and he grabbed a thing of the steak.

"Adrien!" He hugged his brother in all but blood, "You're smiling!" Plagg held out a hand,

"Nino…you and I never really met. We met once, but it was a while ago. I'm Plagg." Nino took his hand,

"Believe me, I know who you are." He wanted to be jealous, but Plagg was genuinely nice, and he knew Adrien had a special and extremely rare bond with his kwami that he had no control over. Seeing Adrien happy and smiling was all he wanted.

The Dupain-Chengs agreed as well, all three rushing over to hug Adrien, as Elaine, Gavin, Emilie and Gabriel joined in.

The walls of the tiny room came down and revealed Jared and Camille, both with sex hair and marks. They both jumped in surprise,

"What did we miss?" Jared asked. Zoe pointed to Amelia,

"Yo, she's here to give you any one wish." She knew what she was wishing for, but nobody knew what Jared would ask for. Jared walked up to her,

"Um…" they weren't sure if he suddenly got shy, or was a little weirded out by the fact the ghost of the mother of the woman he had just started a relationship with being right there out of fucking nowhere. Oddly enough, his wish was a very reasonable wish,

"I've had this power for a while…Totem Armor…I've been told it's killing me…I have no idea what it is, or how I got it…"

"You want to know?" He nodded, and a book appeared in her hands, and she set it in his.

"This is a book with everything you could want to know about your power." But Jared didn't hear her, already engrossed in the text. True bookworm mood.

Amelia turned to Zoe, "And your wish?" Zoe bit her lip. She could get her son's eyesight back… she could see her mother… but she knew her choice.

"Amelia, get your spirit ass out of heaven and back down to this hellhole." Everyone gasped, and Amelia was both surprised and happy. She glowed for a second, before she fell to the ground, a normal person.

"MOM!"

"AMELIA!"

Eli, Camille and Harrison crushed her in a hug. All four were sobbing their eyes out.

"My babies…" She put a hand on the cheek of each of her children, "I'm so proud of you both."

Zoe grinned, "Well all we have to do is wait for Eden to get back…wait…where's Dad?" Dausi came over, and Zoe noted her former inner demon looked pregnant. Well….they did have a two-month honeymoon…

"You Dad burned himself out really badly…" she said, "Melanie put him in a stasis to keep him alive…but he hasn't woken up yet."

"I didn't say he would wake up when he recovers." They all turned and saw Melanie, "I said he would recover when he woke up. Have none of you read fairy tales? I am the witch of love! True love!" They all gave her blank stares and she facepalmed, "Idiots. Guys, love heals all! He needs fucking true love's kiss! Then my power will turn that love into healing!"

There was a collective "Oh" from everyone, before they all turned to Emilie.

And then they were in Kelly's room, where he was sleeping with bandages on his hands, and they were over his stomach.

"Guys…I'm not sure…" Emilie said, "What if it doesn't work?"

"What's the worst that could happen?" Gabriel asked, "Just do it."

"Mom, if even your ex-husband is telling you to do it, that's a sign." Adrien was holding Marinette's hand, grinning, "Or do I need to let Zoe do what she did to Marinette." Nino shuddered at the memory of Storyteller.

"Good god, Gabriel why!?" He turned, "It's been years, but I have never got to ask you WHY?!" Gabriel chuckled,

"I actually don't do much. I supply power, but I don't choose it. If I could choose, I would start with the hideous costumes. They choose, I shit you not. And if they don't, I _think_ Nooroo chooses, because you got turned into something that belong in Happy Meals." He shrugged, "After a while, I realized the terrible costumes weren't the worst thing, because that made me, being a fashion designer, less of a suspect." Everyone nodded, laughing, because that was actually good logic.

Marinette grinned, "Are you referring to that fantastic Kiss the Girl parody that Zoe came up with?" Adrien nodded,

"Still one of my favorite videos." Zoe bowed, picking up her son while Eli had their daughter. She still couldn't believe she was really a biological mother.

Emilie sat on the bed with Kelly, so close their hips were touching. Alya was taking a video as she leaned down slowly and kissed Kelly.

Kelly's eyes fluttered open almost instantly. Emilie had tears in her eyes,

"I love you too." Kelly brushed away one of the tears,

"I knew it was you." He pulled her down and they kissed again.

Everyone was cheering, except Jared, who was reading the huge ass book with not a care at all for what was happening around him.

And it was like this for the next few days. Jared would walk to get food, still reading, and literally hopped over Aelin while still reading, all in his subconscious.

Camille was getting worried that she would have to be the Beast if Jared was turning into Belle. Zoe had laughed her ass off, and had changed Jared's clothing to a peasant Belle genderbend and put his hair in a ponytail—he didn't even notice.

"Mom!" Camille complained once the week had passed, "Is this your way of ruining my love life?! I finally get the guy and then he's sucked into a book you gave him!" Amelia just laughed on the couch, bonding with her husband, best friend and grandchildren.

"To be fair," Kelly gestured to Jared, "He really should know the contents of that book. But Jesus, that book has to at least have fifty thousand pages, it's been a week, and he's halfway through it. What the hell is even keeping that thing together?!"

"Magic." Was the collective answer.

Felix came back, and Zoe turned, "Fe…anything?" Felix shook his head,

"I'm sorry…there's no sign of Eden." Zoe bowed her head, getting up.

"Sorry…I just need to be alone for a bit…" Everyone respected that and left her be.

She walked into Eden's room, at the Harvard acceptance letter on the desk, the medical tools scattered about, the family pictures littering the walls. Zoe sat on the bed and hugged the pink plush pillow, breathing in her sister's peppermint and chocolate scent.

She was finally starting to understand the pain Eden had felt when she left. The unbearable loneliness even in a full room. She wasn't sure if it was postpartum depression or the yearning for her little sister that she had never felt before.

"Mommy?" Zoe turned and saw Aelin crawling into the room as the door had been open a crack. The brunette baby sat down, smiling at her, "Mommy!" Roxas hadn't started talking yet, but Aelin had learned how to identify her mother, her bright blue eyes full of innocence and joy. Zoe smiled and picked her daughter up,

"Hey Aelin," she smiled with her baby. Aelin blinked and put a tiny hand on her mother's cheek which was wet with tears. She frowned, cocking her head.

"I…" Zoe sighed, "Mommy's just a little upset." Aelin frowned, seemingly deep in thought, before she clapped her hands a couple times and a bubble appeared with a tiny flame inside it. She chuckled,

"Thanks Aelin…" She bit her lip.

"Miss her?" Zoe jerked up and saw her mother smiling while sitting next to her.

Maeve looked significantly healthier, no longer anorexically thin, but Zoe noted she had inherited her mother's body type—curvy and somewhat pear shaped. She wore the pink shirt and dark navy jeans she always used to wear, and her golden hair was in a messy bun.

"Mom?! What are you—?!" Maeve smiled sadly, tickling Aelin. Then she gestured to the necklace Zoe was still wearing, the one her mother gifted her in her final moments.

"Regina trapped my soul in the necklace so I could watch all the suffering she put you through, without me being able to fight back. But when you have it, I can see my daughters and grandchildren."

"Mom…" Zoe noticed Aelin start getting fussy and gave her a bottle, "I have so many questions I want to ask you. Did…did you know what I was from the beginning?" Maeve nodded,

"Your Dad told me everything. At first I thought he was insane, but then he started planting things in my head to show me. I knew he was really telling the truth when you jumped in age like your children have. We both suspected that bastard Fu would try taking you, so we sheltered you as much as we could. Once I was under Regina's control, I was glad when you were taken. I knew you were okay."

Zoe smiled, nodding, "Are you upset that Dad's true love was really Emilie?"

"Nope." Maeve sighed, "I had a crush on him before we were married. I loved spending time with him, and he was happy enough, but I could tell he yearned to be on his home world. He just…felt like an outsider. It felt like, with the military and the software companies and the countless jobs, he was just trying to fit in, find his place. He told me of his world with the magic and the superheroes and witches, and always looked so painfully homesick. I know I wouldn't belong there. You and your sisters were probably the only thing other than pop-culture love that we had in common. So I'm glad he's found someone who can keep up with the magical excitement. If you love someone, you value their happiness over your own. And remember, from his perspective, we were divorced for nine years, it's not like he just moved on in a week."

"I suppose you're right." She looked at the room, "Do you know where Eden is? Call it paranoia, but I just have this…feeling…that something terrible has happened."

"She's a fighter, mon ami." She had forgotten her mother was French. "My friend," maybe she was still guilty about the whole Darkling thing. Zoe's ethnicity was Irish, Italian, French, American, and God. Sam used to joke she was conceived via a threesome with Satan, though when Zoe thought about it, that was kind of how Joselyn was conceived.

"No Zoe, stop thinking about that." Maeve laughed, "I can sense what's going on in your head, and now I can't unsee that." Zoe giggled, and Maeve put a hand on her shoulder,

"Eden wouldn't want you to wait for her, you know that. She's not the type of person who puts the world on halt when she's gone. So I guess we need to pick out your official wedding dress." Zoe smirked,

"I have something in mind…"

OoOoO

Eli was holding his children while the women were out shopping,

"Oh Aelin," he said, as Roxas was fast asleep, "I'm gonna love you so much that no man will ever be good enough for you."

"Like any man is going to get anywhere near her in one piece!" Nino laughed, clapping his friend on the shoulder.

"I can start looking for potential predators her age." Adrien chimed in, and the other men nodded their agreement. Gabriel was the only one who saw a problem here,

"She is a month old that looks six months, you territorial Fae bastard."

"Hypocrite!" Came from everyone as Gabriel remembered he too was Fae, and he was by far the most territorial of the group.

"Oh. I'm not wrong though!" Nobody could deny that.

Jared was still reading that book and ignoring everyone. And so it became the inside joke that if they wanted to talk about him behind his back or when he was in the room and they wanted to gossip—because men gossip too! Ignore that fucking stereotype that only women do it—they would just say "Belle" and see how long it took the large man to realize they were talking about him.

OoOoO

That night, Plagg was wandering the mansion. He had never actually gone through the massive building, rather hiding in Adrien's shirt as a tiny kwami. He was looking for the kitchen, because he was hungry.

He jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder, relaxing when he heard Tikki's voice,

"Plagg, can we talk, privately."

"Can we talk in the kitchen? I'm starving."

"Natalie haunts the kitchen so Gabriel has a bed down there while his room now belongs to Zoe and Eli."

"Oh right." They sat in the observatory instead. Tikki created some cheese for him to eat, but Plagg found his palate had started craving other things, so she made some fresh chicken, which he dug into.

"Plagg…are you really okay?" She asked, and when he looked confused, she clarified, "You don't have most of your powers anymore. Just telekinesis. I can sense something is wrong." Marinette is at an ultrasound with her parents and Adrien, so they didn't mind I came to check on you—hell, Adrien thanked me." Yeah… Adrien had taken to basically latching onto Plagg, still thinking the resurrection was too good to be true. It was a miracle he went without this time.

"I'm fine, sugar cube." Plagg replied, "Just adjusting to being in my Fae form all the time. And being alive. I remember being dead, being a vengeful ghost. But there are still some gaps in my memory, but I'm too scared to ask about them." He noticed Tikki's doubtful look, "I really am fine. I hated being the God of Destruction."

"Something's wrong, Plagg. You can't hide that from your big sister."

"You're only older by a day!" Plagg pouted like a child, causing Tikki to giggle.

"And yet I have and will outlive you." He smirked,

"Wanna bet? I destroyed the dinosaurs. And Adrien's _kid_ is gonna have that power. God help us all."

"Plagg…you emerged from an egg and were raised by a pack of raptors."

"I'm still bitter about that." Plagg groaned, "I was older than them, and they tried to eat me! I was hatched from a bacteria egg, not a dinosaur!" If possible, Tikki laughed harder, before calming,

"You're changing the subject." He sighed, and she connected the dots, "It's about Adrien." Plagg nodded,

"I didn't think me dying would hurt him so badly. To think my trying to save him could have lead to him…I can't bear that. I don't remember what happened between me stabbing myself and my death—other than denying hunger that traumatized Adrien, but I was told that one by Gabriel. So for me, I was thinking 'this will save him' then I wake up and he looks like a walking corpse. After I moved on, I was with Pikko. She said hi, in case you were wondering. But the last thing I remember of Adrien was when he let me move on."

Tikki explained everything to him, and Plagg paled.

"He…He really tried to bring me back? Regardless of constant warnings?!" He threw up, "I-I-I…I didn't think he—what did I do?!"

"Plagg, you saved us, calm down."

"Calm down? CALM DOWN?! What if Eli had chosen his mother and Zoe chose Roxas' eyesight!? It's been a month and he looked a few days away from death himself!" He started sob-screaming, unaware that the other kwamis were there with him, having come to see their returned brother.

He wasn't used to emotions. The thing about being immortal is that he had no sense of remorse or ethics because even if he did feel guilt on occasion, it wore off after a few decades. Wiping out the dinosaurs? Sinking Atlantis and killing thousands? The volcano in Pompeii? That meant nothing to him. To him, even High Fae were below him and it didn't matter what happened, because he was eternal, they were not.

The other kwamis started gaining humanity when they found their true destined wielder. Tikki was lucky and found hers almost every time, and never got someone who would abuse her power—so she was the most human of all of them. The others had gotten them on occasion—remember, this wielder came once every thousand years—but Plagg had never found his, not once, just abuser after abuser with the occasional mediocre. Most would think the abusers would make him more human, but it really just made him spiteful and bitter.

That changed with Amelia Dyer. No, not Amelia Blackwell, two _very_ different people. She used to adopt babies as a baby farmer, only to kill them from negligence or downright murder, all for her own financial gain. Originally she would overdose the babies, using an opioid solution meant to calm crying infants. After a bit, she would wrap the bodies in cloths and then bury them, or drop them in the river, or hide them throughout town…or have Plagg kill them outright so they disintegrated—namely that last one. She also frequently relocated to new towns, adopting new identities with each move, in order to throw the police off her trail, as well as parents looking to be reunited with their children.

At 9 a.m. on June 10, 1896, Amelia Dyer was executed. That was when Plagg was finally free. Even when she had been caught, she had demanded the ring be with her, and even tried to bust free once, but Fu saved him and put her back behind bars.

She was the first to realize just how much power she had over him—as he'd managed to annoy a good chunk of them into giving him back—and would force him past his limits, starve him, make him kill babies—which was a low even he wouldn't go for intentionally. When he was finally saved, all he felt was pain, so much pain. He had never known happiness, just endless suffering.

And so he decided back then that no matter what happened, what the others said, he was never going to take another owner.

And then, little over a hundred years later, he was told Nooroo was being used for evil, so he, _extremely_ reluctantly, took another owner.

But upon meeting Adrien, he realized his luck just might be turning around after all this time. Adrien was kind, loving, and a total dork who put up with his cheese obsession. Yes, the love square was annoying, but that wasn't Adrien's fault. Well…poor boy was extremely clueless, but from what he had observed, that was genetic.

He knew the exact moment he realized he had finally found his true wielder. Style Queen. He remembered the tearing in his head and in his heart when Adrien hit the floor and ceased moving. How he thanked Zoe forever. Or Sandboy, when he realized there was an akuma and he left Adrien alone. If Zoe hadn't been there, what would have happened?!

So, in that box, looking his own mortality in the face, he used that arrow on himself. He had lived long enough, but Adrien was practically a baby by Plagg's standards. He was Fae, but he hadn't had a chance to have fun with it. Adrien deserved the chance, and Plagg knew he didn't want to live when Adrien's mortality came to haunt him. Lesser Fae live for about a thousand years, DemiFae can live for a couple thousand years, High Fae live for about a hundred thousand years, but Noble Fae live forever—assuming they don't take an Ashwood arrow to the gut.

Adrien had become his first true happiness—other than cheese, but that went without saying, but if he had to choose between camembert and Adrien, he would choose Adrien—the light in the endless dark, and he wasn't ready to go let that light snuff out. But…it seems in protecting the light, he had almost put it out, leaving behind burning embers where a fire used to be.

"H-How am I supposed to save him again if my sacrifice will make him wish I hadn't—in-in more ways than one…"

"You don't have to anymore." Tikki said, "You're free."

"Adrien's the only time I was free since accepting the damn ring. Marjii had the right idea—with refusing, not the murder of everyone." Plagg replied, "So of course I want to protect him!"

"You're not going to be with him forever." Nooroo said, "Even if he wants it, he's going to college soon, and he'll have Marinette and the baby."

"Are you guys trying to make me feel better or worse?" He snapped, hearing the garage downstairs, "You know what, if none of you are going to be helpful, I'm just going to go." He got up and turned to leave, when Trixx took his hand,

"Plagg, we're not saying you'll never see Adrien. We're just saying that you aren't his kwami anymore, so you need to get a life of your own."

"Like now that I'm not as powerful or Tikki's other half, do you really think I will stop fighting for him? You're funny. This doesn't make me less protective."

"We don't mean that at all." Wayzz said, "Besides, you're still our brother, even if you aren't like us anymore. And it will take time to adjust to your human eyes or your human voice." Plagg rolled his eyes,

"Does this mean y'all want me to act like mortals?" Plagg asked sarcastically, "I'm still High Fae." He gasped, "I have to shower now! Don't I?! I'm still a cat at heart! I HATE WATER!" The other kwamis laughed at his misfortune as he realized the true 'horror' of his situation: he had to take care of himself.

"You might also have to get a job." Duusu taunted.

"Oh god!" Plagg tore at his hair, "I changed my mind! I want back in the ring! DO I HAVE A MATE?! THEN THERE WON'T BE TIME FOR CHEESE!" He frowned, now calm, showing off his slightly bipolar side, "I would joke that I wish I was still dead, but I _just_ got Adrien to stop clinging to me like no tomorrow."

The other kwamis just laughed.

OoOoO

The day of the wedding arrived. There was still no sign of Eden, but Maeve was right. Besides, it was just like Eden to just party crash.

Preparations lasted a total of ten minutes, with everyone having magic powers. Except now, it was a double wedding, because Zoe and Eli were technically already married.

Adrien had proposed to Marinette over dinner, apologizing for not being there that last month. Now that his Fae rapid-healing had kicked in, he looked the picture of health after three days of eating and sleeping properly.

Poor Dr. Winston was the one who did the official marrying of the group. They discovered he legally could when Kelly dug through his mind one day out of boredom. They promised that if he did it, he would get a month without being bothered by them—so naturally he took up the deal.

Adrien and Marinette's wedding went by fast—because they knew there were children who would sleep if things took longer than ten minutes—then it was Zoe and Eli's turn.

Eli had been forced into that outfit he designed during the Frozen Incident—that had led to a lot of screaming that managed to bring Jared out of his reading just long enough to try punching Eli, because lost-to-reality readers are dangerous to interrupt.

Zoe was wearing a stunning white version of the dress she wore when they first met. She had only some natural makeup on, with white flowers in her hair and a crystal headband. her bouquet was roses made of white chocolate, because shameless.

Dr. Winston held up the book, "Okay…um…we gathered here today to see two people tie the knot." He pulled out a rope and tied a knot in it, "I'm no boy scout, but that's a knot." He tossed the rope on the floor, "So…is there anyone who is against this marriage?" Nobody spoke, "That's what I thought. Okay…something tells me you've said your vows and I can tell the way you're looking at each other that you just want to kiss, so…"

"I do."

"I do."

Dr. Winston threw his hands up and walked away, "Fuck it!"

And so, the reception began. There was cake—there was actually many cakes, one specifically for Zoe. The weddings were small, with the class and family, so they just had the wedding at the hotel.

Zoe stood up, tapping her glass of white wine. Everyone was silent,

"Okay everyone, I hope you're all enjoying yourselves. I just realized something and I need to thank." Everyone looked interested, "I need to thank Hawk Moth."

"WHAT?!"

"Relax." Nobody except those who knew the truth noticed Gabriel turn red, "Yes, when under Mara's control, he was a prick. But, if he hadn't tried to kill me, I would never have found Eli again." She took her husbands hand, "So Hawky, I know you're probably watching from that butterfly in the corner and don't actually have the balls to be here, thank you."

Everyone's eyes widened as they realized Hawk Moth could be thanked for their ship. Then they all started clapping towards the white butterfly Joselyn had created for this. She was still trying to figure out her powers.

Roxas was having trouble eating his piece of cake, not because he didn't have teeth, but he phased every time she tried to put the spoon in his mouth. After giving him squash baby food by accident, he didn't trust spoons going into his mouth. And since he was blind, he couldn't tell that it wasn't squash.

Aelin giggled, grabbing a handful of cake in her pudgy hand and shoved it in his face before he could react. Maybe it was a twin thing, but Aelin was clearly very protective of her brother already.

And at that moment, everything was peaceful.

Until that moment ended.

Zoe and Eli were sleeping together when Zoe was woken by a noise. Fearing for her babies, she ran to the nursery, where she saw…

"Eden!" Eden turned, but then Zoe noticed something very wrong, but she couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was.

"Showy…" Eden fell over and Zoe caught her. And that was when she saw her sister's feet were becoming crystalline, "I'm sorry…"

"Sorry for what? What's going on with you?!" Zoe saw the crystalline shit start spreading,

"I wasn't careful…didn't let my magic protect me." Eden looked down, "It's too late for me to undo my mistakes. But please, don't let this change you, promise me. I just had to see you, one last time." Zoe gasped as she realized her sister was dying,

"No!" She took her hand, "I'm not letting you die! We've come too far!" Eden just closed her eyes and smiled, as she was covered completely. The crystalline shattered, floating up and vanishing from existence.

The only thing left of her sister was the Tiger Miraculous she always wore. Even her hearing aids were gone…

Zoe felt tears spill over, praying this was a nightmare when she knew deep down that it wasn't. She didn't hear Aelin and Roxas wake up and start crying, she could just feel her heart break,

"E-Eden…"

**A/N: Remember when I said I can still kill people? That's what I meant. Eden's dead! But we still have the epilogue, so maybe…**

**Just review and feed the author kwami. Maybe I'll be merciful.**


	33. Chapter 33

**A/N: Fun fact - Amelia Dyer is a real person. A real, creepy af person.**

**And Eden's dead. Sorry about ****that.**

**Epilogue: A sea of cliffhangers (actually like three)**

Eden's funeral was a small thing, like the wedding, except there was no happy mood to be found. The class knew the truth, and they too were distraught by the loss of their lovable friend. Zoe was hit hardest thought, having had her baby sister die in her arms. Joselyn and Kelly were devastated too, and Eli was extremely sad. The twins were mercifully confused, so Sam babysat them even though he himself was heartbroken by the loss.

Zoe sat alone outside in the garden, still wearing the black gown she had worn for the funeral. Jared had finally finished the book, and he was helping Joselyn cope with the loss of her big sister.

"Look out!" She yelped when she heard Felix shout and Roxas was launched at her. Roxas squealed and giggled, and Felix flew down, making his black angel wings vanish,

"Sorry Mom…he phased through the wall again. I tried to catch him, but then he phased through my arms." Zoe sighed,

"It's okay. You've been doing a good job of taking care of your brother and sister." Felix puffed his chest proudly,

"Thanks! Dad's been helping Pops (Kelly), Grandpa (Harrison) and Nana (Amelia) through the loss. He wants to talk to you though, something about a secret he wants to share, but decided to wait."

"Felix, what have I told you about gossiping." She lectured, and Felix lowered his head,

"Aunt Hana told me to tell you." Oh. That made more sense. Hana was the gossiper of the group now that she was free. She too was taking Eden's loss hard, but expressed it differently. Roari had hopped into her Miraculous and hadn't come out.

Roxas looked up at her through unseeing violet eyes, his blonde hair windswept like an anime character even though he looked seven months.

"I'll go talk to you Dad. I need something to distract myself." She walked upstairs and saw Eli sitting alone in their room. Well, not alone, he was conversing with Jaay, who was also taking Eden's death hard. Zoe had almost forgotten her husband and sister had bonded over each knowing the truth about the other and keeping it from her.

"Eli?" Eli looked up.

"Hey Zoe…" She sat down,

"Hana told Felix to tell me that you wanted to talk." Eli flushed, before looking down,

"Yeah… but now that you're here…" She put her hand on his cheek, brushing away a tear,

"Hero…you can tell me." And he started crying, just like when she learned that Douglas was really his captor.

He told her everything that had happened, and mentioned what really happened when he went to go get supplies in the Dark Realm, about the possibility of Douglas coming back.

When he was done, Zoe was livid.

"I understand why you didn't tell me." She said, "But I don't understand…you made the move on me…and an Enchantress?"

"I made the move on you because I knew if I didn't, it wouldn't ever happen. And I trust you above anyone else. Then Kelly locked that memory away, god bless him for that. I was just afraid of what you would think of me, because I'm unclean."

"Look at my face, Eli." he looked at her, "I don't give a fuck. All I feel is even more regret than before that a) I didn't realize what was happening sooner, and b) that I accidentally dropped him off a building instead of torturing him more."

"You did some rather brutal things. What else could you do?"

"Make him listen and watch the horrors of Finny Fun _while_ I torture him." Eli laughed,

"The image that creates is fantastic. When I'm down, I will imagine that."

Zoe nodded, "Naturally. I'm fucking hilarious." She kissed him, and he kissed back. Then she smirked, "You're _mine_, Eli, nobody else's."

"And you're mine."

OoOoO

Plagg was again wandering the halls. He was still trying to learn the ropes of being…not a kwami. He could't say he was mortal, because he was still High Fae, but he felt like a mortal. Not eternal? That works. He was struggling with not being eternal anymore.

For starters, this was the first time he had ever gotten tired without fueling a transformation. He was about to try sleeping—another strange thing because he used to be recharged by eating, and that wasn't the case anymore—when he heard whimpering.

Walking upstairs to investigate, he found himself in Adrien's room, where his kitten—as Adrien would be forever called even if Plagg was no longer a cat kwami—was kicking and muttering under his breath. Marinette was putting a cold washcloth on his forehead,

"No…no…Plagg, don't go…please…"

"What's going on?" Marinette jumped in surprise. Even though it had been two weeks, she still wasn't used to him.

"Oh. Plagg. It's nothing, this just happens." Plagg frowned,

"Wake him up if he's having a nightmare."

"I can't. This isn't a nightmare. It's a sleep terror. I can't wake him even if I wanted to."

Oh. Plagg had to admit she was right. It was important not to try and wake the victim from their state, but to remain by them until it passed. This gave them comfort when they snapped out of it, and assured you that they weren't getting up and moving about while still in the state, potentially harming themselves or others in the process.

"I'll…be right back." Marinette shrugged as Plagg walked down into the kitchen. Gabriel had designed a little room inside the kitchen, so he still slept with Natalie, and Elaine often joined them.

But he found Kelly drinking coffee. He looked like hell. But that was to be expected, because his daughter was dead. Normally, he wouldn't dare go to the poor man right now, but he had to.

"H-Hey…Kelly?" Kelly looked up, and Plagg fidgeted a little, feeling small under the man's scrutinizing sapphire gaze. Why was he scared? He was the—oh right…he wasn't the God of Destruction anymore, this man could kill him with less than a thought.

"It's Adrien…" Kelly huffed, pouring more "Irish"—read booze—into his coffee,

"When isn't it these days. I was talking to Emilie about it not an hour ago and Gabriel the hour before that and Nino the hour before that." He sounded really deadpan, almost sarcastic.

"I-I'm sorry. It's just—I wouldn't have come to you about this…but you're the expert on the mind. A-A-And I'm not exactly g-g-good at that…"

"Adrien's having sleep terrors again and you don't know why." Plagg nodded, and Kelly refilled his coffee, "He's traumatized."

"But I don't understand, I'm alive and have been for weeks, so why is he so scarred?"

"You were dead for a month. He remembers that. It hurt. There, happy?" Plagg bit his lip, and Kelly sighed, "Fine. I'll make you understand so this conversation can end."

Plagg screamed as he was hit with a freight train of painful emotions that physically hurt. Was this what Adrien felt!?

He was crying and Kelly was drinking his spiked coffee and watching him.

"Oh god…I can't be responsible for him feeling that!"

"Death sucks." Kelly said, likely tipsy from the slight slur, "Lucky for you, you got to be the dead one. Let me give you some wisdom. When you are dead, you do not know the pain of being dead, all the pain is felt by others. The same thing happens when you're stupid." Yup, he was drunk. Judging by the empty alcohol bottles, he had been drinking for a while.

"How do I make it right?!" Kelly shrugged, taking another long sip of the coffee,

"Go give him cuddles or some shit." Plagg calmly got up and took the coffee from the wasted man.

"That's enough for you."

"Gimme…" it was amazing how Kelly had gone from sober to drunk in like ten seconds, but then he realized he was probably able to keep the feeling under wraps, until a talk about death came up.

Plagg just set Kelly in the bed, before going back to where Adrien was shrieking and things were flying around. He hugged his kitten,

"Hey, hey, I'm here. I'm here. I'm okay." Repeating this for a few minutes did the trick and Adrien calmed, clinging to him. Marinette smiled and Plagg blushed,

"I don't think he's gonna let go. Do you mind if I…I don't want to intrude and you were just married." Marinette shrugged and Plagg laid down, so Adrien was sandwiched between them in a little bundle of love.

What they didn't know, was that the Lady of the Lake was watching them,

"Enjoy this time while you can, Plagg." She said, "But I didn't agree to this second life, so you still belong to me, and will me mine again."

The next morning, Plagg started to cough.

OoOoO

Joselyn woke up to the feeling of pain in her stomach.

She got up, looking to where Jared was sleeping. Ever since Eden died, she had taken to sleeping with him in a totally platonic way. He didn't so much agree as not fight her, because even if he said no, she would just come in when he was sleeping.

Crawling out of bed, she crept outside and found a nice fat rat. She picked it up and snapped it's neck, eating the soul, only to find herself still in need of feeding.

She walked back inside and noticed she had changed into her other form, Iku. Her eyes widened as she realized what she needed to do.

Completely soundless, she snuck into Eden's old room and grabbed a scalpel. It was a tiny knife, perfect for her.

She needed a human soul. And she was going to get it.

Walking out of the mansion, she slipped her mask on.

OoOoO

Millard groaned. Iku was getting stronger every second! And then the second Worldbender child went and died! Curses!

Well, he was a necromancer, formerly apprenticed to death himself, so did that mean anything to him? Not really.

The girl, Eden Imelda, slept on an alter he had resurrected her on. He had managed to salvage her body and her powers, but he didn't know if he had managed to repair the damage to her soul. The Blind Eternities had done a number on her soul, practically wiping it clean.

He had to admit, she really was a beautiful girl, shadowed by her big sister though. No, he wasn't thinking of doing anything creepy to her.

"It's time to wake up." He said, his eyes glowing red to ensure she woke.

She opened her eyes, which were now grey, saying he hadn't done as good a job as he would have hoped in saving her soul.

"Who are you?" She asked, frowning, "Who am I?"

Millard chuckled. This was perfect. He had the power and didn't need to do any of the icky brainwashing.

"It's okay Aurora," he replied, "You're home."

**A/N: Eden's not dead! Yay! Plagg very well might be again soon! Yay! Eden has amnesia! Yay! Joselyn was off to kill someone! Yay! **

**Yeah. Most of those were sarcastic. **

**Thus ends A Hero's Journey. As usual the next update will be soon, only this time for the prequel, next installment and one-shots of your choosing! **

**And remember to review and maybe I'll let a character be happy for longer than three seconds!**


	34. Chapter 34

I've been doing a lot of work this last week. Things that are out right now:

Two Worlds, One Family

Another's Beginning

Helpless (the night Zoe and Eli met from Eli's POV)

There will be other one-shots of you guys' choosing. And remember to review them to feed the author kwami! Poor Cheeto is very hungry.


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